A New Year
by susanatc
Summary: Castle and Beckett spend New Year's Eve together. What changes will the new year bring for our favorite couple?
1. Chapter 1

_This is for Carolina17. Thank you for your encouragement. I know it's not the follow-up that you asked for, but I hope it will do instead._

_I don't own these characters, but I very much enjoy the opportunity to play around with them. _

_Happy New Year everyone!!!_

* * *

Detective Kate Beckett liked to be in control. She was very much aware of the fact that she was a control freak, but the term held no negative connotations for her. In fact, it gave her a sense of peace. Perhaps that's why Rick Castle got under her skin so easily – she couldn't control him. He had bulldozed his way into her life and she was completely helpless to remove him from it. Worse than that, though, was the fact that she now realized that as dangerous as he was to her control, she actually _wanted_ him in her life.

The ringing of her phone pulled Kate from the frantic search she was conducting in her closet. "Beckett," she said by way of greeting.

"Have you found the perfect dress yet?" Lanie asked her, the smile evident in her voice.

Kate settled onto her bed with a sigh. "No. And is it wrong of me for hoping this is a call about a murder so I have a legitimate reason to back out of this thing?"

"By 'this thing' are you referring to your date with Castle?" Lanie teased.

"It's not a date," Kate reminded her. "I am accompanying him to a party that his publisher is throwing for all of her major authors."

"On New Year's Eve," Lanie added, not bothering to hide the amusement in her voice. "At one of the most exclusive clubs in New York City." After a brief pause, Lanie continued, "So have you found the perfect dress yet?"

"I could strangle Castle for roping me into this," Kate replied. "And no, I have no idea what I'm going to wear yet."

"Wear your new red dress," Lanie suggested. "It's perfect for tonight."

Kate got to her feet and made her way back into the closet. As she pulled the dress out and looked at it, she smiled. "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive," Lanie replied. "Castle will love it and you'll feel sexy in it."

"I'm not sure that feeling sexy while in Castle's company is such a good idea," Kate confided.

"Relax, Kate. You're going to have a great time."

Kate sighed again, not wanting to admit that having a great time was _exactly_ what she was afraid of. Castle kept her off-balance. He had somehow gotten under her defenses and now resided in that place in her heart reserved solely for people she truly cared about. The problem was that his constant flirting and teasing kept her wondering if she truly mattered to him or if she was merely a distraction until something or someone else came along.

"Okay then," she finally agreed. "The red dress it is."

"What time is he picking you up again?"

"He said he would be here at eight," Kate replied.

"Then you'd best get off the phone and get yourself ready so you can dazzle your man when he gets there."

In spite of herself, Kate found herself laughing. "Thanks, Lanie."

"You're welcome, girlfriend," Lanie replied. "And keep in mind that you could do a lot worse for yourself than Rick Castle."

"It's still not a date," she reminded her.

"Right," Lanie agreed. "But I still expect details later. Especially if he mans up and kisses you."

Kate felt a blush reach her face at the mere thought of Castle kissing her. "Who says I would let him if he tried?" she argued.

"That red dress and your entire Richard Castle novel collection," Lanie teased. "Face it, Kate. You've got it just as bad for him as he has for you."

"Goodbye, Lanie," Kate said before disconnecting the call. There was no need arguing the point. Lanie had been her best friend for a long time, but there was no convincing her otherwise when she got it in her head that Kate was interested in a guy. Besides, if she was being honest with herself, she would have to admit that she'd had a bit of a crush on him even before she met him. The problem was in trying to reconcile her feelings for Richard Castle, the author, with those she had for Rick Castle, the man. The image he portrayed of himself as an author was just that…an image. She was beginning to think that the real Rick Castle was a fascinating man that she would very much enjoy getting to know better, and that thought scared her.

Pushing aside her concerns for the time being, Kate made her way to the bathroom. She still had plenty of time for a shower before she started on her hair and makeup. If she was going to do this, she was at least going to do it right.

XOXOXOXOXO

Rick Castle was a man on a mission. Whether by divine intervention or some other miracle, Kate Beckett had agreed to accompany him to a New Year's Eve party and he was determined to make it the most memorable evening of her life. His black suit was hanging on the door of his closet and his white dress shirt was immaculately pressed, just waiting for him to slip it on. He had secured a limousine for the evening, which was scheduled to arrive at his apartment in thirty minutes, and the florist had just delivered the most exquisite bouquet of yellow daffodils for him to give to Kate when he picked her up for the evening. All that was left now was for him to select his tie.

His phone rang and he rushed to answer it. "Castle."

"Red," Lanie stated simply.

"Red? Got it, Doc. I owe you," he replied with a smile.

"If you do anything to hurt her, Castle, you'll answer to me. Are we clear on that?" Lanie asked.

"Crystal clear," he replied.

"Good. Then have a good time tonight."

"Thank you," Castle replied.

He disconnected the call and went to his closet for a red tie. Beckett would undoubtedly be suspicious of his choice, but he hoped she would appreciate it nonetheless. He couldn't recall ever trying to impress a woman as much as he wanted to impress her. There was just something about Kate Beckett that drew him to her. He couldn't imagine ever getting tired of spending time with her and he was thrilled that she had agreed to join him tonight.

XOXOXOXOXO

When the doorbell rang at exactly eight o'clock, Kate checked her reflection one last time in the full length mirror. Satisfied that she was ready, she turned off the light and made her way to the door. She checked to confirm it was Castle and then opened the door with a smile.

"Right on time," she stated.

His eyes travelled the length of her body, attempting to absorb every detail. She had pulled her hair up and it fell in loose curls around her face. Her makeup was understated, but it drew his attention to her eyes. Her dress was a deep red that accented the tone of her skin. The front was low cut, but not revealing and it clung to her curves in all the right places before flaring out into a full skirt midway down her legs. She wore simple red heels which brought them to eye level and made her legs look amazing. The overall look was extremely classy and Castle couldn't help but smile. "You look absolutely stunning," he said as his eyes returned to hers.

"Thank you," she replied.

He held out the bouquet of flowers. "These are for you."

"You didn't have to bring flowers," she said. "But thank you. They're beautiful."

He stepped into the apartment and closed the door as she turned and headed to the kitchen. "Just let me put these in some water and I'll be ready."

He noticed that she already had her coat laid out so he picked it up while she took care of the flowers. When she returned, he held her coat for her while she slipped into it. She grabbed her purse and then took his offered arm once she had secured the door behind them. She couldn't help but think that for something she had been very careful to keep from labeling a date, it was sure beginning to feel like one.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Good evening, Detective Beckett," Paula said as she approached the table.

"Good evening, Paula," Kate replied as she looked up at Castle's agent. "And please, it's Kate."

"Do you mind if I join you for a minute?" Paula asked, indicating the empty seat across from her.

"Not at all," Kate replied. "Castle just went to get us a refill on our drinks."

Paula settled in the seat across from her with a relaxed smile. "It's good to see you here with Rick," she said.

"I was flattered when he invited me," Kate replied, not mentioning anything about her surprise at the fact that he not only brought flowers with him, but that he also rented a limousine for the evening. She was quite certain that, unlike her, Paula expected that type of behavior from the men in her life.

Paula looked at her for a long moment before nodding her head as if finally deciding something in her mind. "You're good for him, you know."

"Excuse me?" Kate questioned.

"Don't get me wrong. Rick is a great guy. He can just be a bit overwhelming at times. You keep him balanced and grounded. I don't think I've ever seen him as content as he is now that you're a part of his life," Paula replied. "You're good for him."

Kate glanced over to where Castle was still waiting in line at the bar for their drinks before attempting to set the record straight. "I'm not sure what you've heard, but Castle and I are not together, Paula. We are merely work colleagues."

Paula laughed and shook her head. "Kate, I've known Rick for a very long time and trust me when I say that the man is completely smitten with you. It might have started out as a working relationship, but I can assure you that, for him, it moved beyond that a long time ago."

Kate started to protest, but stopped when she saw Castle heading back in their direction. Following the direction of her gaze, Paula got to her feet. "It's been delightful chatting with you, Kate," she said as Castle reached the table.

"Hello, Paula," Castle said as he sat the drinks on the table.

"Hello, Rick," Paula replied as she leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I was just saying hello to Detective Beckett. It's nice to see you guys here together. Enjoy your evening."

Castle watched her retreat and then turned back to Kate with a puzzled expression. "Did I miss something?"

Kate shook her head slightly. "Nothing of any importance," she replied as Castle settled into the seat Paula had just vacated. Lifting her diet coke, she added, "Thank you for the drink."

"You're welcome," he replied as he picked up his own glass of soda water. When he'd offered alcohol, she'd turned him down; stating that never knowing when she was going to get called out on a case meant she rarely drank. In deference to her, he'd chosen not to drink as well. They had agreed on one glass of champagne to toast the New Year though.

"How many of these people do you actually know?" Kate asked as she surveyed the room.

Castle's eyes moved around the room once before returning to her. "I've probably been introduced to most of them at some point during my career," he replied. "I could probably name about half of them to you right now. Of that half, I could probably give you details on about a quarter of them and that comes solely from our interaction at these events. There are only a couple of people here that I really know well enough to sit down and have a serious, relevant conversation with."

Her gaze returned to his and she gave him a soft smile. "So why do you attend these parties if you don't really know anybody at them?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Part of the job description, I guess," he replied. "However, tonight it was a chance to dress up and spend an evening on the town with a beautiful woman on my arm."

"And if I had said no?" she teased.

"I would've pestered you until you changed your mind," he replied.

She smiled at that, imagining him doing just that. "And if that hadn't worked?"

"I would've tried extortion and blackmail," he quipped. "And if that hadn't worked either, I would've called the Mayor and asked him to order you to attend with me."

She locked her eyes on his, wondering just how serious he was about that last part. There was a glimmer of mischief in his blue depths and she couldn't help but smile. "Good thing I didn't have my heart set on staying home and watching the ball drop on television then, isn't it?"

"Good thing," he agreed.

Their gazes locked for a long moment and Kate wondered what he was thinking. He surprised her by the next words out of his mouth. "Would you like to dance?"

He hadn't realized how nervous he'd been that she would decline until she smiled and nodded her head. "I think I'd like that very much," she said. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and quickly got to his feet and offered her his hand.

She placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor and pull her into his arms. The band was playing a slow number and she felt a thrill of excitement run through her when he placed his right hand on the small of her back and pulled her into his embrace. She lifted her left hand to his shoulder and followed his lead as he maneuvered them smoothly across the floor.

"Why Detective Beckett, you're rather good at this," he noted as he met her gaze.

"A misspent youth," she replied in explanation. "What's your excuse?"

"My mother insisted that a true gentleman should know his way around the dance floor," he stated. "Besides that, she often needed a dance partner for learning her parts and since I was around, I was the perfect choice."

She smiled at the mental image of a young Rick Castle leading his mother around the dance floor. "It suits you, Castle."

"Thank you," he replied. "I like to think I was at least partially responsible for my mother earning a couple of her roles on Broadway."

"How is she doing in her current role?" Kate asked. "Isn't it scheduled to open next week?"

"Opening night is January 8th," Castle confirmed. "And mother is having the time of her life. She's spending her days at rehearsals and her evenings with Chet and I can honestly say that I haven't seen her this happy in years."

"How about you?" Kate probed. "Are you happy with the situation?"

His eyes met hers again and he offered a small smile. "I had a nice talk with Chet a couple of weeks ago and I'm convinced that he's in this for the long haul, so I'm okay with it."

Her eyebrows rose at that. "You actually sat him down and asked him what his intentions toward your mother were?"

"Why do you look so surprised?" he asked.

She thought about it for a moment before she shrugged. "I guess that I'm just not used to that side of you," she admitted. "It's…refreshing."

"Really?" he asked. "You don't think I'm being a chauvinist? Trying to take care of the 'weak female' in my life?"

"I think there's a difference between being a chauvinist and being a concerned son," she replied. "I would expect the same behavior if it was a young man showing interest in Alexis."

"If it had been Alexis, you would've known about it long before it happened because I would have asked you to run a background check on him," he admitted.

She laughed at that. As much as he joked about it, she knew that he took his responsibilities as a father very seriously. It only took spending five minutes with him and Alexis together to see that. And as much as she hated to admit it, she found him even more attractive during those rare moments when he was too busy being a father to annoy her.

Catching his eye again, she let out a soft sigh. "What are we doing, Castle?"

He raised his eyebrow and smiled. "We're dancing, Beckett. And we're doing it quite well."

"That's not what I meant," she replied.

He shrugged slightly, not sure how to answer her. "Then I guess I'm at a loss."

She pulled back slightly and narrowed her eyes. "I've never known you to be at a loss for words, Castle. You're a writer, remember?"

He pulled her back into his embrace with a smile. "Okay then, if I was writing this particular story, it would go something like this. Two consenting adults agree to spend the evening together at a party to bring in the New Year. Although not willing to admit it to each other, both of them enter the evening with certain expectations and hopes."

He paused for a moment, and then continued with a wink. "The woman, who is quite breath-takingly beautiful, I might add, insists that there is nothing between the two. However, the man knows that when she's being honest with herself, she admits there is a mutual attraction between them."

He paused again, and the slight blush coloring her face was all the answer he needed from her to know that he was right. "The man wants the evening to be memorable, because he wants to build upon it for many years to come. However, the woman is leery of accepting anything that he does at face value, anticipating that his every move is motivated solely on the advancement of his career. Unsure how to change her perception of him, the man does the only thing that he knows how to do; he opens himself up to her, inviting her into his world, hoping that she'll dig as deep as she needs to in order to find the answers she seeks before being willing to risk her heart with this man."

"The man understands her weariness. He knows that she needs more than empty words from him. He knows she needs actions that back up those words, or perhaps even take the place of those words. In spite of her belief to the contrary, the man is patient. He feels that he has waited his entire life to meet her, so waiting until she's certain is not a problem for him. He has resigned himself to the fact that his fate is in her hands, but he trusts her enough to know that she will protect it as fervently as she does all of the other things that are important to her. And while she might not realize it, the man has committed himself to doing the same for her."

"So the man savors every moment of their evening together and hopes that he has succeeded in making it as memorable for her as it has been for him. He knows that he will close his eyes and remember the feel of her in his arms as they danced. He will remember the color of her eyes when she laughed with him. But most of all, he will remember how exquisitely beautiful the woman is, knowing that her beauty radiates from within her and reflects upon all that surrounds her."

Her eyes still locked on his, Kate finally found her voice. "How does the story end?"

"You tell me, Kate," he replied.

She kept her eyes locked with his, searching for something in their depths. Seeing only honesty reflected back at her, she offered him a small smile and decided to lighten the mood with a bit of levity. "It's probably going to depend on how good of a kisser the man is," she teased. "If he can't wow her with a New Year's kiss, she's probably going to assume that the attraction she feels is completely one-sided and misplaced."

Castle laughed at that and pulled her against him in a hug. "Should he wait until midnight or start practicing early?" he asked softly.

"I guess he should figure that one out," she teased. Stepping out of his embrace, she smiled at him. "While you work on that, I'm going to visit the ladies room and freshen up."

Castle reluctantly released her and watched as she made her way off the dance floor. With a bit of a spring in his step, he made his way back to their table to await her return. He couldn't help but think that perhaps he wasn't going to have to wait as long as he thought he might have to for Kate to start taking him seriously.

XOXOXOXOXO

Kate had returned to their table to find Castle engrossed in conversation with his publisher, who had insisted that he join her in working the room. There were several new writers that she wanted to introduce him to, hoping to use his publicity to encourage them to sign contracts with her. The next couple of hours had found the three of them working their way around the room and Kate had actually been surprised by the number of people whose names she recognized. It had been fascinating watching Castle in his element and she briefly wondered if he felt the same way when she was working a murder investigation.

As the clock approached midnight, Castle excused them from a conversation and led her towards the bar for a glass of champagne. He hated the fact that he'd been unable to spend the entire evening focused on her and was afraid that she'd been miserable as he'd talked to his fellow writers. Before he could offer an apology, she smiled at him. "That was quite possibly the most entertaining two hours of my life," she told him.

"Really?' he asked. "I figured you would've been bored out of your mind."

"It was very intriguing to watch your interaction with your colleagues," she replied. "I think I can see why you enjoy tailing us around so much."

Castle accepted two champagne flutes from the bartender and offered her one before he replied, "You're not just saying that to make me feel better, are you?"

Kate arched an eyebrow at him. "Have you ever known me to say something just to make you feel better?"

"You've got a good point," he conceded as he led them towards the dance floor where the majority of the party-goers were gathered.

Castle took her hand in his and led them to the far edge of the crowd as the emcee called everyone to attention for the countdown to midnight. "So have you made any resolutions for the upcoming year?" Castle asked.

"Not really," she replied as she turned to look at him. "Have you?"

"I resolved to stop making resolutions a few years ago," he answered with a smile. "I've found it to be one of the few that I've actually kept."

She smiled at his reply and lifted her glass as she heard the emcee reach ten on the countdown. "To a New Year, Castle."

"May it be filled with happiness," he replied.

They clinked their glasses together as the countdown reached one. "Happy New Year," they said together before lifting their glasses for a sip. As the band began playing "Auld Lang Syne", Castle took both of their glasses in hand and turned to set them on a nearby table. He then turned his full attention back to Kate.

Without another word, he lifted both hands to cup her face and then slowly lowered his lips to hers. He felt her hands slide up his chest as he kissed her slowly, not wanting to rush through the moment. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth and then traced his tongue along it until he felt her part her lips beneath his, allowing him access into the warm recess of her mouth. Her tongue met his in an erotic dance as the kiss deepened and he couldn't hold back a moan of satisfaction at the feel of her in his arms.

Not wanting to get carried away in such a public venue, Castle eased his lips away from her and rested his forehead against hers as he attempted to catch his breath. Her hands were gripped tightly to the lapels of his jacket and her eyes were still closed when she said, "That was nice, Castle."

Unable to contain himself, he gently brushed his lips against hers again as he moved his hands to cover hers, noting with some trepidation that his were trembling slightly. When she finally opened her eyes, Castle smiled at her. "So tell me, Detective, do you think that one had enough of a wow factor that the woman will consider saying yes when the man asks her out?"

Kate returned his smile and then leaned up to brush her lips against his softly. "I think it was just enough that the man definitely got her attention," she replied. "I'm quite certain that she's going to reserve judgment until the good night kiss though."

"Then I'm sure the man is going to be looking forward to walking her to her door," he replied.

Before she could respond, a couple bumped into them, forcing them to break contact in order to keep their balance. The intruding couple apologized profusely and wished them a Happy New Year before stumbling off in the opposite direction.

"I think they might have had too much to drink," Castle commented.

"A common occurrence on New Year's Eve," Kate replied.

Castle reached for her hand again and laced their fingers together. "How about another dance before we call it a night?"

"I'd like that," she replied, in no hurry for their evening to come to an end.

As he pulled her into his embrace, she couldn't help but think that starting the year in Rick Castle's arms might possibly be the perfect way to start every year.

* * *

_I'm not sure whether this is going to stay a one-shot or turn into a multi-chapter fic. I guess I'll leave it up to you guys as to whether you want me to continue or not. Thanks for reading._


	2. January

_After much thought, I've decided that I'm going to continue this story. My plan is to post one chapter for each month of the year, to see the progression of their relationship. That's the plan. I guess we'll see how well I do at following it. Anyway, this is the chapter for January. It picks up on New Years Day and then jumps forward a couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy._

* * *

Castle walked down the stairs and stopped to place a kiss on Alexis's forehead before he entered the kitchen. "How was your night, sweetie?"

"It was nice," Alexis replied. "But I'd rather hear about yours."

Castle hid his smile by opening the refrigerator and pulling out the orange juice. "It was nice as well," he replied.

"Come on, dad," Alexis said. "You can do better than nice."

He poured himself a glass of juice and returned it to the refrigerator as he pondered how to answer the question. "It was exquisite, Alexis. The more time I spend with Detective Beckett, the more I'm convinced that she's one of the most extraordinary women I've ever met."

Alexis smiled. "And does Detective Beckett feel the same about you?"

Castle shrugged as he allowed his thoughts to drift back to their evening. He finally felt that he was at least making progress where she was concerned. After all, she'd not only shared an amazing New Years kiss with him, but they'd also shared a rather explosive good night kiss when he walked her to her door. "If I knew the answer to that question, I would be a very happy man."

"You seem pretty happy to me anyway," Alexis replied. "Was it at least a nice good night kiss?"

"You know I never kiss and tell," Castle replied.

"Since when?" Alexis teased.

"Since last night," he responded. In an attempt to change the subject, Castle nodded towards the stairs, "Has your grandmother been up yet?"

"About an hour ago," Alexis replied. "We shared a late breakfast and then she said she was going to get cleaned up and meet Chet since he was unable to join us for our New Year's Eve celebration last night."

"And what do you have planned for the day?" he asked.

"Owen asked if I wanted to see a movie later this afternoon," Alexis replied. "After the last fiasco, I told him to call me today when he settled on a time and I'd let him know. How about you?"

"I think I'm going to spend the day holed up in the office working on my latest Nikki Heat novel," he replied.

"Working on a holiday?" Alexis teased.

Before he could respond, his phone rang. He smiled when the caller id showed Beckett's number. He held up a finger to Alexis and pressed the button to answer the call. "Is this business or pleasure?" he asked by way of greeting.

He heard her soft chuckle before she replied, "Business, Castle. We've got a body."

"Forward me the address. I'll meet you there." After a slight pause, he added, "And good morning, Beckett."

She hesitated for only a moment before she replied, "Good morning, Castle."

Castle couldn't help but smile as he ended the call. "It looks like my plans have been changed."

Alexis smiled as she watched her father practically bounce out of the room. "Be careful out there," she called after him as he grabbed his jacket out of the closet.

He walked back in and pulled her into a hug. "Have a good time at the movies with Owen," he told her. "I'll call if I'm going to be late."

Alexis returned the hug. "Love you, dad."

"Love you, too."

XOXOXOXOXO

Kate maneuvered the car through the light traffic as she made her way to the latest crime scene. She had hoped to get lucky enough to actually get the holiday weekend off, but had known that the chances were slim. The fact that she hadn't gotten called in until almost noon was a surprise in itself.

Her thoughts drifted to the previous evening with Castle and a smile automatically spread across her face. The good night kiss at her door had blown their New Years kiss out of the water, and she had been tempted to invite him inside. Fortunately for her, Castle had apparently been serious when he'd told her that he was willing to be patient, because had he pushed her last night, she probably wouldn't have offered much resistance.

Kate felt uneasy about dealing with Castle in both a professional and personal capacity. She wasn't convinced that he could separate the two and she didn't want a personal relationship with him to hinder her ability to do her job.

Forcing her thoughts back to the present, Kate took a deep breath and buried her emotions. If today went as bad as she feared it could, she would at least know that trying to date Rick Castle would never work as long as he was still working on cases with her.

XOXOXOXOXO

Castle paid the cab driver and made his way into the small apartment complex. Esposito saw him and waved him through the crime scene tape. "Happy New Year, Castle."

Castle smiled. "Apparently not for everyone. What do we have?"

Esposito led him into the first floor apartment where Ryan and Beckett were waiting. "What is that smell?" Castle asked as he covered his nose.

"Burnt flesh," Ryan replied.

Castle grimaced and followed Kate as she led them into a back bedroom. "The apartment is leased to Janice Richman," Kate began. "It appears as if someone tried to set her on fire."

Castle forced himself to look over at the partially charred body Lanie was studying in the middle of the bed. "Not an accident?" he asked for clarification.

"Only if you can explain how you accidentally start a fire after taking two .45's to your chest," Lanie offered.

"So someone shot her and then tried to cover the murder by setting a fire?" Castle posited.

"It looks that way," Kate agreed. "Fortunately, the sprinkler system kicked on and doused the fire before it could really take hold. The arson squad is looking at what was used to start the fire."

"The crime scene team will be at least another hour," Esposito stated as he joined them in the bedroom.

Kate nodded. "Okay, you and Ryan start knocking on doors and see what you can find out. Castle and I will head back to the station and start looking into her background."

"On it," Esposito replied.

Kate finally turned her attention to Castle who was looking around the room with interest. "You coming, Castle?"

He jumped at the sound of his name. "Right behind you, Detective."

Kate turned her back and allowed a small smile to cross her lips. In spite of her misgivings, it appeared as if Castle had decided that this morning was going to be business as usual. It might be only the first hurdle they would face, but at least they had cleared it without stumbling.

XOXOXOXOXO

Kate took a deep breath and rang the doorbell, then stepped back to wait for an answer. It had been a hectic two weeks since she and Castle had spent New Year's Eve together. The two of them had been able to catch a quick bite to eat together a couple of times in the course of the past two weeks, but every time they'd tried to make plans, work had gotten in the way. Since they'd cleared their last case on Friday afternoon and finished most of the paperwork on Saturday, Kate had readily agreed when Castle had invited her to join him and Alexis for a lazy Sunday afternoon spent watching the football playoffs.

Castle opened the door with a smile. "Hi."

Kate returned the smile as she stepped inside. "Hi."

Castle helped her out of her jacket and hung it up before turning back to face her. "I'm glad you're here."

"So am I," she replied, surprised to find that now that she was standing in front of him, the nervousness of the morning had disappeared.

Their eyes locked and he slowly lowered his head and brushed his lips gently across hers. He intended it to be a quick welcome kiss, but when she leaned into him, he allowed himself to linger and enjoy it.

When they slowly parted, she leaned back slightly and asked, "What was that for?"

"Do I need a reason?" he asked. He then took a step away from her and clarified his answer. "I wanted to, and since we're not working this afternoon, I thought you might let me get away with it."

"Quite the gamble there, Castle," she teased. "You know I carry a gun."

"I weighed the risks and decided the probable outcome was worth taking the chance," he responded with a smile. "Come on in. Alexis is in the kitchen."

He led her into the kitchen and her eyes widened at the amount of food sitting out. "Are you expecting the Jets football team to stop by after the game?"

Her comment earned a laugh from Alexis, who looked up from the bowl she was filling with chips. "Good afternoon, Detective Beckett."

"Good afternoon, Alexis, and please call me Kate," she replied.

"We're all set, dad," Alexis said as she placed the bowl on the last open spot on the counter.

"Excellent," Castle replied. He handed Kate a plate. "Relax, Kate. It's just a few snacks to munch on during the games."

Kate turned her attention to Castle. "If this is a few snacks, I'd hate to see the spread for a full meal."

Castle smiled at her teasing while he moved to the cabinet and pulled down glasses. "Name your poison."

Kate looked up from filling her plate. "Do you have sweet tea?"

"Done," Castle replied. "Alexis?"

"I'll have the same," Alexis replied as she added dip to her plate.

Castle hastily filled three glasses with tea and then carried them into the living room. By the time he made it back, both Alexis and Kate were finished filling their plates. "The first game is getting ready to start," he informed them.

"I call dibs on the recliner," Alexis said as she headed out of the kitchen.

Castle shook his head as he picked up a plate. "It's just like a teenager, isn't it? To steal her father's favorite seat?"

Kate laughed at his mock indignation. "I have a feeling you would insist she sat in it if she didn't claim it for her own."

Castle nodded as he piled ham onto the sandwich he was making. "So true."

Kate waited as he filled his plate and then the two of them walked together into the living room. Castle motioned her to the couch and then followed her, easing down beside her as he sat his plate on the coffee table next to their drinks.

"So who are you picking for the first game?" Castle asked. "The Cowboys or the Vikings?"

"I'm taking the Vikings," Kate replied. "I think Favre's experience in the playoffs will far outweigh the hot streak the Cowboys have been on."

"I have to agree," Castle replied.

"I'm telling you guys, this is Romo's year," Alexis commented.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Alexis, but it just isn't going to happen," Castle replied.

"We'll see, dad."

Kate chuckled as she listened to the two of them. It was nice to be able to relax and just enjoy spending time together. It had been far too long since she had allowed herself to indulge in enjoying a new relationship.

"Where's your mother?" Kate asked.

"Mother is spending the day with Chet," Castle replied. "I believe they were having a late lunch and then going to the ballet. She told us not to wait up on her."

"Sounds like a fun way to spend the day," Kate commented.

"I'll take football over the ballet any day," Castle replied.

"For some reason, that doesn't surprise me," Kate noted.

He turned to look at her and offered her a soft smile. "That doesn't mean I wouldn't take you to the ballet if you wanted to go. Just that I would prefer a football game to watching men parade in tights."

Kate nodded to the television. "Perhaps you haven't noticed that football is also a bunch of men parading around in tights."

Alexis and Kate both laughed at the look of horror on Castle's face. "That is just wrong on so many different levels."

"It might be," Kate agreed. "But why do you think so many women enjoy watching football?"

Castle just shook his head and looked back to the television. "Thank god the game is finally starting."

XOXOXOXOXO

"I'm leaving," Alexis said as she walked into the living room.

"You're going to miss the end of the game," Castle replied as he leaned his head back far enough to see her.

"The Jets are going to pull off the upset," Alexis replied. "I've already seen the important stuff."

Paige had called at the beginning of the fourth quarter and invited Alexis to go out to the movies. Since Paige had spent the better part of the last four months grounded, Alexis had jumped at the opportunity. "Have a good time," Castle stated.

Alexis noted the fact that Kate was currently reclined on the couch with her head resting comfortably against her dad's chest while her dad had one arm across the back of the couch and both feet stretched in front of him resting on the coffee table. The two of them looked incredibly cozy. She couldn't help but smile as she winked at her dad. "You, too. Kate, I'm sorry to bail early, but I had a wonderful afternoon."

Kate leaned up enough to look over at Alexis. "Thanks, Alexis. I've had an enjoyable day myself. Have fun at the movies."

Alexis offered one last wave and then headed out of the room. As Kate returned to her position against Castle's chest, she grinned. "Did I hear you say something about cheesecake earlier?"

"In the refrigerator," he replied. "But you'll have to let me up to get it."

Kate pondered it for a moment and then reached up and pulled his arm off the back of the couch so it was resting along her side. "It can wait then. I'm too comfortable to move."

Castle laced their fingers together where their hands rested on her stomach. "If you fall asleep, I make no guarantees to wake you," he teased.

"You should feel privileged that I'm relaxed enough to even be considering it," she replied.

They sat that way for the remainder of the game, their fingers interlocked and Castle's thumb rubbing circles on the back of her wrist. When the Jets picked up a first down that allowed them to run out the rest of the clock, Kate tilted her head back to look up at him. "Two-for-two on the day, Castle. First the Vikings took it to the Cowboys, and then the Jets pulled off the upset."

"A good day," he agreed as he looked down at her.

Kate lifted her free hand to the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. He went willingly, his free hand lifting to her head as they slowly tasted each other.

"A good day indeed," she replied as they parted. "We should do this more often."

"Which part?" he asked as he brushed soft kisses across her cheek and up to her eyes.

"All of it," she replied as she tilted her head to capture his lips again.

He returned her kiss eagerly, but he kept himself in check. He knew it had been a stressful week for her and he valued the fact that she trusted him enough to truly relax with him. Taking advantage of her in a vulnerable state was not on his list of things to accomplish.

When they finally parted for air, he smiled at her. "I have blueberry and cherry topping for the cheesecake. Which would you prefer?"

She returned his smile, grateful for the fact that he was being true to his word and taking things slowly. "Cherry, please."

He eased himself from under her and then reached a hand down to pull her to her feet. "Come on, we can have dessert while I put the rest of the food away."

Kate followed him into the kitchen and stifled a yawn as she settled onto one of the stools at the island. Noticing her fatigue in spite of her efforts to hide it, he shook his head. "Perhaps I'll make yours to go."

"Are you kicking me out, Castle?" she teased.

"Never," he replied as he pulled the cheesecake out and sat it on the counter. "I'm just willing to call it a night before you get too tired that it stops being enjoyable."

Kate smiled as he cut the cheesecake into pieces. She _was_ tired. She conceded with a slight nod of her head. "Okay, make mine to go."

Castle walked to the cabinet and pulled out a plastic container with a lid. He placed a generous portion of the cheesecake inside and then scooped the cherry topping on top of it. After securing the lid, he held the container out to her.

"Thank you," she said as she took the dish and got to her feet.

Castle stepped around the island and walked with her to the door. He pulled her coat from the closet and helped her into it, then held her cheesecake while she fastened her buttons. Instead of reaching for the cheesecake, Kate stepped in front of Castle and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Thank you for today," she said as he wrapped his arms around her. "I had a great time."

"So did I," he replied as he looked down at her.

She leaned up and brushed her lips against his gently and then took a step back. He handed her the dish again and then reached past her to open the door. "Good night, Kate."

"Good night, Castle," she replied.

He watched until she disappeared around the corner and then he closed the door with a sigh. He was falling hard for Kate Beckett and it was quite possibly the most exciting ride he'd ever been on in his life.

* * *

_Now that you've had the opportunity to read the follow-up, please let me know if I should continue or scrap the idea completely. I'd love to hear from you._


	3. February

_For all of you who have expressed concern about having to wait an entire month between posts, please rest assured that is not my intention. When I said I was going to post a chapter for each month of the year, I didn't mean I was going to wait until that particular month to post. I apologize for any confusion. Having said that, here's is the next chapter._

_In case you were wondering, these characters are on my list of things I'm hoping to get for my birthday, but unless someone comes through for me in the next couple of days, I still don't own them. _

* * *

Castle sat beside Kate's desk and watched as she read over a case file. They were working a double homicide that had taken place in the back room of a Laundromat, and so far, their leads were merely running them around in circles. It had been an incredibly frustrating week.

"Stop staring at me, Castle," Kate said without looking up from the file.

"I can't help it," he replied, his voice barely a whisper to prevent them from being overheard. "You're beautiful."

Kate smiled in spite of herself, and then lifted her gaze to his. "Right, and the reason you based Nikki Heat on me is because I'm tall."

He smiled at the mention of a conversation they'd had the previous month. It was his attempt to get her to relax so she could focus on doing her job. Surprisingly enough, his attempt at humor had been just what she'd needed at the time. "I vote we get out of here for an hour and grab something to eat."

"I'm working, Castle," she reminded him.

"No, you're re-reading the case file that you already have memorized," he countered. "That's not working. Come on, we can even take Ryan and Esposito along so it doesn't feel like playing hooky. We'll go to Raymond's, grab a burger, and be back here in an hour."

Kate looked down at the case file on her desk and then back at him. "One hour?"

"My word," Castle agreed.

"Okay, let's go."

Castle smiled as he got to his feet. "Ryan, Esposito, we're going to Raymond's."

The pair looked up from their computers with raised eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"Yes," Kate replied as she slipped on her jacket. "Let's go before I change my mind."

The two of them hurried to grab their coats and followed them towards the elevator. "What's the occasion?" Ryan asked.

"We need a change of scenery," Kate replied. "My eyes are going blurry staring at the file."

"You should spend an hour looking over the security footage," Ryan offered. "Talk about something making your eyes blurry."

The four of them entered the elevator, and Kate and Castle stepped to the back wall. "I still don't understand why the murderer went to the trouble of busting open the cash register, but left the safe untouched," Castle commented. "If his intent was robbery and the murders took place because he got surprised, why not finish the deal?"

Kate looked over at him. "What if the robbery was an afterthought to cover the murders?"

Ryan and Esposito both turned around to look at the two of them. "It's possible," Ryan said. "The security feed shows our guy emptying the register on his way out the front door."

"If it was a robbery gone bad, surely the perp would've known there was a safe in the office," Esposito proposed.

Kate narrowed her eyes as she considered this new possibility. "We need to look a little closer at our victims."

Ryan, Esposito and Castle all sighed as the elevator dinged their arrival on the ground floor. Before the doors even completely opened, Esposito reached out and pressed the button for their floor. "So much for Raymond's," he commented.

Kate's eyes locked with Castle's. "I'll make it up to you," she promised them all as the elevator began its ascent.

* * *

Kate paced aimlessly around her apartment in an effort to relax. It was after one a.m. and she was quite literally exhausted, but her mind refused her the sleep she so desperately needed. When she had left the station at nine, after a dinner of cold pizza eaten while finishing paperwork, her intentions had been to go home, have a shower and then crawl into bed. She'd even turned down Castle's offer of sharing popcorn while watching a movie because she really just wanted to sleep. Four hours later, her mind was still racing with images of the young boy whose life had been ended before it had really had a chance to begin.

Making her way to her study, she flipped on the light and perused the titles of the books lining the shelves. When her eyes reached her Richard Castle collection, she pulled the first one from the shelf and turned it over to study the picture on the back. She should've taken him up on his offer for a movie. An evening spent with Castle would have been enough of a distraction that she would have been able to fall asleep without the images that were currently haunting her.

She sat the book back on the shelf and headed back to her bedroom. As she picked up her phone and pressed the speed dial for his number, she settled under the covers on her bed. It wouldn't be the first time she'd woken him up with a phone call. It would be the first time it wasn't work related though. Tonight, she just wanted to hear a friendly voice. No, tonight she just wanted to hear _his_ voice.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Castle sat at his desk and stretched his arms over his head, noting that it was almost two a.m. He had been writing for nearly three hours, and was just starting to feel the fatigue. He was almost to the end of the latest Nikki Heat novel, and he wanted to finish the first draft before Valentine's Day. He'd already asked Kate to join him for a romantic dinner, and he didn't want the distraction of a nearly-finished book overshadowing their evening.

His phone buzzed on the desk beside him and he checked the caller i.d. Getting a call from Kate at this time of the night usually meant a dead body. "Castle," he stated by way of greeting.

"It doesn't sound like I woke you," she replied.

"I've been working," he replied as he leaned back in his chair. "Do we have a case?"

"No," she said softly.

Castle couldn't help his smile. It had taken nearly two months, but she had finally taken him up on his offer to call him on the nights when she was having trouble sleeping. "Bad dreams?" he asked as he got to his feet and moved to a more comfortable chair.

"I haven't made it that far," she admitted. "Every time I close my eyes, I see the body of Jackson Teal."

Their double homicide had been followed up with an eight year old boy found shot to death in the alley behind a convenience store. Their investigation had led them to a twelve year old who confessed to shooting the younger boy over a bicycle and a set of baseball cards. It had been an incredibly trying case.

"How can I help?" Castle asked.

"I just needed to hear a friendly voice tonight," she replied. "What are you working on?"

"I'm writing the final chapter of the next Nikki Heat novel," he confided.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Kate state.

"Relax, Kate. I can work three hundred and sixty-five days a year. It's not often that I get you all to myself, even if it's just on the phone."

"We should work on changing that," she said.

"We are," he reminded her.

"Where are we going on Valentine's Day?" she asked.

"It's a surprise," he replied. "But I promise you a delicious meal in exchange for making you dress up."

"I still owe you for canceling our lunch plans at Raymond's," she commented.

"How about if I stop and bring donuts and bagels into the station tomorrow?" he suggested. "That should mollify Ryan and Esposito."

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm holding out for another good night kiss," he teased.

She laughed at that and the sound caused him to smile again. "You're hopeless, you know that?"

"I've been told that on many occasions," he replied. He heard her yawn on the other end of the line. "You should go to bed."

"I should."

"When you close your eyes this time, try picturing where I'm taking you for Valentine's Day," he stated.

"It would help if you gave me at least a hint," she replied.

He considered it for a minute before he answered. "Fancy attire, French food, and a personal favor from the restaurant owner to get reservations."

"I can think of a couple of places that fit that bill," she replied.

"Good, it will give you something else to think about tonight."

"It will."

"If it doesn't work, call me back and I'll bring over my Disney collection."

She laughed softly on the other end of the line. It was nice to be able to call just to hear his voice. "Good night, Rick."

He couldn't help his smile. It was slow-going, but she was definitely letting him in. "Good night, Kate."

* * *

Castle stepped off the elevator and was immediately cornered by Ryan and Esposito. "Good morning," he offered with a smile.

"Break room," Esposito replied. "Now."

"What's going on?" Castle asked as they flanked him to ensure he joined them.

Once they were in the break room, they stood directly in front of him, invading his space. When Castle took a step back, he found himself trapped between the two of them and the table behind him. "Okay guys, really, what's going on?"

"You tell us," Ryan replied.

Castle's expression conveyed his confusion. "I really have no idea what you're talking about."

"Beckett," Esposito stated by way of explanation.

Concern immediately filled Castle. "What about her? Is she okay?"

Ryan and Esposito shared a look and then turned their attention back to Castle. "She was whistling when she got here," Ryan said.

"She offered to fix coffee for me when she filled her own cup," Esposito added.

"Not to mention the shiny new bracelet she's trying her best not to stare at this morning," Ryan said.

Castle forced his expression to remain neutral, not wanting to give away that he was secretly pleased by the information. "If she's in a good mood, then it's pretty obvious that I have done nothing to piss her off. So why the third degree?"

Esposito narrowed his eyes and inched closer to him. "We're trained detectives, Castle."

"We can do this the easy way," Ryan added. "Or we can do it the hard way."

"How about we don't do it at all?" Captain Montgomery commented from the doorway.

Ryan and Esposito immediately stepped away from Castle. "Yes, Sir."

Castle straightened up, let out a deep breath and offered a smile as the two detectives scurried out of the room. "Good morning, Captain Montgomery."

Montgomery took a step closer to him and lowered his voice. "Friend of the mayor or not, if you hurt her Castle, there will be hell to pay."

"Understood, Sir," Castle replied.

"Glad we got that straightened out," Montgomery stated. "Now I suggest you go find Beckett and keep doing whatever it is you're doing that has her in such a good mood this morning."

Castle waited until the captain left the break room before he allowed himself to relax. He thought they were doing a good job of keeping their personal life separate from their professional life, but apparently he was mistaken.

His thoughts drifted to the previous day as he poured himself a cup of coffee. It had been the best Valentine's Day of his life, and he hoped that Kate would say the same. It had started with him picking her up, the roses he'd ordered having already been delivered before he arrived. She had looked amazing in her midnight blue evening gown, and he was glad he had rented a limousine for the night so she wasn't forced to climb in and out of a taxi.

They'd had a fabulous meal at Per Se and he'd even convinced her to indulge in a glass of wine with dinner. After that, they'd gone for a carriage ride through Central Park and he'd surprised her with a simple gold bracelet that had her initials engraved on it. He'd initially been hesitant about the gift, not wanting her to feel like he was rushing things, but her smile when he'd clasped it around her wrist had relieved any lingering doubts he'd harbored.

The ride back to her apartment had been filled with pleasant conversation, and he couldn't remember a time when just holding someone's hand had ever felt so intimate. Their goodnight kiss at her door had been spectacular, and he'd had to remind himself to breathe when she'd looked up at him with desire clouded eyes and said good night.

"Penny for your thoughts," Beckett offered as she joined him by the coffee pot.

"Good morning, Beckett," he replied as he turned to smile at her. "Having a good morning I take it?"

She narrowed her eyes. "What makes you say that?"

He shrugged and lifted the pot to refill her cup. "Apparently, you're scaring your co-workers with your excellent disposition today."

Kate smiled as realization set in. "Got the third degree, did you?"

"More like an inquisition and not-so-veiled threats," he replied. "Were you really whistling?"

She glanced over at him shyly. "Hard to have a night like last night and not have it carry over to the morning after. Besides, it scares the boys when I'm in a good mood." She waited until he met her gaze again after returning the pot to the warmer, and then she winked at him. "I like scaring the boys on occasion."

He smiled at that. "Just promise me that you won't let them inflict any permanent damage."

"Deal."

Castle glanced down at the bracelet on her wrist and then lifted his gaze back to hers. Kate smiled at the look of surprise on his face. She knew that he expected her not to wear it while at work in an effort to keep their personal relationship from invading their professional one. She had debated with herself for several minutes that morning before finally deciding that she didn't want to take it off. The look in his eyes convinced her that she'd made the right choice.

"Nice bracelet," he commented.

"From a nice guy," she replied as they stepped out of the break room.

"A good thing then?" he queried, mindful of the fact that Ryan and Esposito were paying close attention to their conversation.

"Absolutely," she agreed as they reached her desk. As they took their seats, she caught his gaze and then lowered her voice slightly. "Although I don't mind his bad boy side either."

His eyebrows shot up at that. Was she really flirting with him in the middle of the precinct? He relaxed back into his chair and smiled as she opened a file on her desk. He could see the corners of her mouth twitching in her effort to keep from grinning. Apparently, she not only liked to scare the boys, but she also liked to tease. He tucked that piece of information away, hoping that it would come in handy someday soon.

* * *

_I've done my part by posting. Now you do your part and write a review to make my day and it would be greatly appreciated._


	4. March

_First off, I apologize for the confusion in the last chapter of when the story jumped ahead in time. I should have marked that a little better. I tried to remedy that problem in this chapter._

_Second, I did not get these characters for my birthday. However, my Indianapolis Colts won the AFC championship and earned a trip to the Super Bowl on my birthday, so that's a decent alternative._

* * *

Castle approached the crowd gathered around the crime scene tape and started to weave his way through the throng. He pulled up short when he heard someone call his name, and he turned in the direction of the sound and saw a young, blonde woman approaching him.

"Richard Castle!" she said as she reached him.

"Yes," Castle confirmed.

"Oh my god! I'm such a huge fan," she gushed as she placed her hand on his arm. "I have every single one of your books."

Castle offered her a polite smile. "Thank you."

"My name's Denise," she continued.

"Thank you, Denise," he repeated. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm needed inside the building."

Her grip on his arm tightened as he tried to turn away from her. Castle saw Ryan and Esposito exit the building in his peripheral vision as he turned his attention back to the woman clinging to his arm. "Oh this is great! You're doing research for your next Nikki Heat novel, aren't you? Is that why you're here? Someone has been murdered and you're here to help the police solve the crime?"

"I'm sorry, Denise," Castle stated as he took her hand in his and forcibly removed it from his arm. "I'm not at liberty to discuss police business."

Castle turned away from her to duck under the crime scene tape just as Kate joined Ryan and Esposito on the sidewalk. He saw Kate look in his direction just before he found his arms suddenly full of the young woman beside him as she launched herself at him. Before he could even react, her arms were around his neck and she pulled his head down to hers to plant a kiss on him.

Castle's hands immediately went to the woman's shoulders as he forced her away from him. Ryan and Esposito were suddenly at his side, helping him disengage her grip on him even as they pulled him into the relative safety of the crime scene tape.

A quick hand signal from Esposito had one of the uniformed officers escorting Denise away from the building even as she shouted out her phone number. "You okay there, Castle?"

"I'm good. Thanks, guys."

"Are all of your fans this crazy?" Ryan asked.

"Believe it or not, most of them are relatively normal," Castle replied.

He nodded towards Kate. "So what do we have?"

"If you ask me, I'd have to say you're probably going to have a lot of explaining to do," Esposito offered as they headed in her direction.

Kate chose that precise moment to look up at them and Castle swore under his breath at the look in her eyes. Ryan clapped him on the shoulder. "Good luck, man."

The two detectives headed back into the building and left him to face Kate on his own. Knowing that it was pointless to bring up the subject of Denise while at the crime scene, Castle chose instead to explain his tardiness. "I'm sorry I'm late. There was an accident on 23rd that had traffic backed up for a mile. What do we have?"

"Rosie Templeton, forty years old, divorced mother of three, real estate agent," she replied with an icy stare. "Found hanging from the ceiling fan in her bedroom by the babysitter."

"Suicide?" he asked as he followed her back into the building and onto the elevator.

"Doesn't look like it," she replied. "There are signs of forced entry on the doorway and Lanie says there are two separate ligature marks on the neck."

"Strangled first and then strung up so it would look like suicide?" he asked. "Robbery?"

"Not that we can tell," she replied as they stepped off the elevator on the fifth floor. "Ryan and Esposito are talking to her neighbors to see if anybody saw or heard anything."

"What about the kids?" Castle asked as they entered the apartment.

"With child services at the moment," Kate replied. "They're trying to contact the boys' father to inform him of the situation before they tell them what happened."

"How old are they?" he asked.

"The oldest is fourteen and a set of ten-year old twins."

"Is the father involved in their lives?" Castle asked.

"We're still working on that information," Kate replied as they reached the master bedroom.

Lanie looked up from the body. "I'd say time of death was between midnight and six a.m. but I'll be able to narrow that down more once I get her back to the morgue."

"Thanks, Lanie," Kate replied.

"Nice of you to join us, Castle," Lanie added with a grin.

"Traffic jam," Castle replied.

He saw Kate roll her eyes before she turned her attention to one of the uniformed officers in the room. Lanie lifted her eyebrow in question and Castle shrugged. "A misguided fan on the other side of the tape," he stage whispered.

Lanie winced and nodded her head in Kate's direction. "And she saw?"

Castle nodded even as his eyes glanced at the body of their victim. "What's that on her wrist, Lanie?"

"It looks like adhesive," Lanie replied. "I'll take a sample and get it to the lab for analysis."

Kate rejoined them then. "The babysitter, Alicia, confirmed that the boys spent the night at their aunt's house last night. Apparently, Alicia has a key because she comes here straight from school so she's here when the boys get home. She stays with them until Rosie gets home from work, which is around six most nights. When she got here today, she found Rosie and called 911."

"Was it a common occurrence for the kids to stay at their aunt's during the school week?" Castle asked.

"Alicia said that Rosie had an early morning meeting with a client today and she didn't want to disrupt the boys schedule on a school day so she made arrangements with her sister for them to stay with her."

"Any idea who the client was?" Castle asked.

"According to her date book, his name was Charles Lyons," Kate replied. "And please don't suggest that we should talk to him, Castle. I do know how to do my job."

Castle held up his hands in surrender. "I would never say anything to the contrary, Detective Beckett."

Lanie bit back a chuckle as she watched the two of them. She could only imagine what Kate had witnessed outside, but whatever it was, her friend was definitely not cutting him any slack this afternoon.

"Detective Beckett," one of the crime scene technicians said as he entered the room. "I found something in the bathroom that I think you're going to want to see."

Beckett stepped out of the room and Castle watched her go. He had no sooner turned his attention back to Lanie when he heard Beckett's voice. "You coming, Castle?"

Castle merely shrugged his shoulders at Lanie's muted laughter and hurried out after Beckett.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(3 days later)

Castle paid the cab driver and hurried out of the vehicle. Against his better judgment, he'd followed Kate home from the precinct. He'd done his best to give her space, but it had been three days of the cold shoulder and her absolute refusal to listen to any attempt he'd made to explain what she'd witnessed outside their crime scene and apologize. It was already after ten and while he knew the smart thing to do would be to leave her alone and let her get some sleep, the fact that she had been more closed off with him this week than she had since the time he'd gone behind her back to investigate her mother's murder had finally gotten under his skin.

Kate turned to glare at him as he approached her outside her apartment building. "Go home, Castle."

"I want to explain," he replied as he followed her inside.

"And I don't want to hear it," she replied as she headed for the stairs. She knew she was overreacting, but she didn't care. Seeing that bimbo draped all over him while she'd been worried about what had held him up from the crime scene had infuriated her.

He followed her anyway, his irritation with her growing with every step. "I think the least you could do is to let me explain what you saw."

"I don't need an explanation," she threw over her shoulder. "I know exactly what I saw. Another Richard Castle groupie draped all over you, only this one apparently wanted more than just an autograph."

He finally caught up to her when she reached her apartment door. As she fumbled with the lock, he took her elbow and turned her around to face him. "What do I have to do to convince you that there isn't another woman on this planet who even comes close to comparing to you, Kate?" he asked, his voice rising in spite of his attempt to keep his anger in check.

"I don't know, Castle," she spat out, her jealousy easily venting in her anger at him. "Maybe you should try kissing a few more of them while I'm watching. I'm sure that would do the trick."

He shook his head in exasperation and then quickly closed what little distance remained between them as he pressed the full length of his body against hers. Before she had a chance to react, he lowered his mouth to hers and claimed her in a searing kiss. He held nothing back, wanting only to convince her with his body what his words were failing to convey.

His lips slanted over hers, his tongue begging entry into her mouth as his hands tangled in her hair. Her resistance lasted a mere heartbeat before she opened her mouth beneath his. Their tongues dueled and teeth clashed as they attempted to devour each other.

His hands moved to her ass to pull her fully against his hardening erection and he swallowed her groan as she shifted her hips against his and raised her hands to his shoulders, holding on tightly as the maelstrom of emotions threatened to pull them both under.

Using his body to press her against the door, he slid one hand back to her hair and tilted her head to the side to give him access to her neck. When she offered no opposition, he lowered his mouth to the smooth skin beneath her ear. His teeth grazed against her in gentle nips before he soothed her with the heat of his tongue. When he sucked her earlobe into his mouth, she finally found her voice. "Rick."

His name on her lips in the sexiest voice he'd ever heard caused him to lift his head. Her eyes were closed; her hair was disheveled where he'd had his hands in it; and he could feel the pounding of her heart against his chest. She was, by far, the sexiest woman he'd ever known in his life.

He took a deep breath and rested his forehead against hers as he eased his grip on her. When she opened her eyes, he lifted his head and met her gaze. "There's nobody but you, Kate. Nobody."

Without waiting for a response, he brushed his lips softly against hers once again and then stepped away from her. Kate watched until he reached the stairwell and disappeared from sight before she dropped her head back against the door and let out a sigh. There was no way to deny the truth…she was an idiot.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kate took a deep breath and knocked on Castle's door, not wanting to run the risk of waking Alexis or Martha by ringing the doorbell. After Castle had left her standing in her hallway, it had taken only ten minutes for her to admit that her anger at him was a direct result of her own insecurity and jealousy. It had taken another hour of listening to his phone go directly to voicemail to persuade her that resolving this needed to be done sooner rather than later. She had already wasted three days hiding behind their case.

Kate was surprised when Martha opened the door. "Hello, Kate."

"I'm sorry, Martha," she replied. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Is everything okay, dear?" Martha asked, her concern evident. "Where's Richard?"

"He's not here?" Kate asked in response.

"No," Martha replied. "I thought he was with you."

"He left me over an hour ago," Kate offered as she pulled out her cell phone and dialed his number again. When it went straight to voicemail, she ended the call and looked back at Martha. "His phone has been going straight to voicemail for the last hour."

"It must have been a doozy of a fight tonight," Martha stated.

Kate raised surprised eyes to see Martha's knowing smile. "More like a misunderstanding blown completely out of proportion," she offered in explanation.

"My guess is that he turned off his phone to give himself time to think," Martha replied.

"Do you have any idea where he would go?" Kate asked.

"I'm sorry, Kate. I have no idea. I'm sure he's fine though," Martha replied as she shook her head. "Would you like a cup of coffee? You're more than welcome to wait for him to get home."

"No," Kate replied softly. "But thank you for the offer."

As Kate opened the door to step back into the hallway, Martha offered her a smile. "Don't worry, dear. He'll come around."

Kate took a deep breath and forced a return smile. "Good night, Martha."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kate stepped wearily into the elevator at the precinct after spending two hours driving around the city searching for Castle. Her search had been futile and it disturbed her to think that even after almost three months of dating the man, she really didn't know him well enough to have a clue where he would go when he was upset. Her first choice had been his apartment, because she knew how important his family was to him. When that turned out to be a dead end, she was at a loss as to where to go next. If not for the fact that she knew her distrust and accusations had hurt him earlier and he had most likely just wanted some time and space to himself, she would be concerned by her inability to get in touch with him.

Knowing that sleep wouldn't be visiting her any time soon, she'd headed to the station to look over the case notes again. There were times when she did her best detective work while sitting alone in the middle of the empty bullpen. She stepped off of the elevator and made her way to the break room to start a pot of coffee. She pulled up short when she spotted Castle sitting at her desk, his eyes glued to an open file in his hands.

The relief she felt at the realization that he was okay nearly brought tears to her eyes, and she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and lose herself in a hug. However, she knew that she owed him an apology before there was even a chance that would happen, so she took a deep breath to calm her nerves and then changed course to talk to him. "What are you doing here, Castle?"

Without even turning to acknowledge her, Castle got up from her chair and moved to the one designated as his beside her desk. He then pointed to the board. "I think it was the ex-husband."

Kate made her way over to stand in front of him, ignoring his comment on the case. "What are you doing here, Castle?" she repeated.

"Reading the notes from the divorce," he replied without lifting his eyes. "It was a pretty nasty custody battle. The judge granted Rosie full custody of the boys, with their father being allowed visitation rights on every other weekend and one full week a year."

Kate leaned down and took the file from his hands and sat it carefully on her desk. She then placed one finger under his chin and lifted his face to meet her gaze. "Why are you _here_?"

He met her gaze, but his expression was unreadable as he shrugged his shoulders. "It's what Nikki Heat would have done," he finally offered.

She gave him a small smile. "Yes, but Nikki Heat wouldn't have turned off her cell phone and had the people who care about her worried."

Castle's eyebrows knit together in confusion and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Glancing down at the screen, he shook his head. "I think the battery is shot. It keeps turning itself off."

Kate watched as he powered it back on before he met her gaze again. "I'm sorry. Did my mother or Alexis call you looking for me?"

"No," she replied. "I went to your apartment looking for you when your phone kept going straight to voicemail. Martha told me that you hadn't been home."

His face showed only a brief flash of surprise at her admission before he turned his attention back to his phone. He quickly typed a text message to let his mother know he was at the precinct with Kate and then returned the phone to his pocket.

"I apologize for the inconvenience. I'll get a new battery for it in the morning."

Kate looked down at him and shook her head. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she stepped between his legs and waited until he looked up at her before she spoke. "I'm sorry, Rick. I over-reacted. You were late getting to the crime scene and I had started to get concerned. When I walked outside to see if Ryan or Esposito had seen you yet and saw that woman draped across you, I got jealous. I wanted to scratch her eyes out for having her hands on you, and I wasn't prepared for that rush of emotions. Instead of dealing with my own jealousy, I turned that anger on you. I was wrong and I admit it."

His eyes searched hers for a long minute before he finally offered her a grin. "Jealous, huh?"

"Yes," she admitted as she lifted one hand to the side of his face and let her fingers trail through the hair at his temple. "Crazy, seeing green, thinking up places to hide the body, jealous."

"I'm sorry I let her get close enough to make you jealous," he replied as he wrapped his arms loosely around her waist.

She leaned down and kissed him gently, then stepped back and pulled on his hands. "Come here. I want a hug."

He quickly obliged, pulling her securely into his embrace as he got to his feet. As she wrapped her arms around his waist, he planted a kiss on the top of her hair. "We'll figure this thing out, Kate."

"I know," she agreed. "It just scares me sometimes."

He understood completely. There were times when the depth of his feelings for her scared him too. "Are we good?" he asked.

"We're good," she confirmed as she leaned back to look at him.

He took the opportunity to kiss her, allowing his lips to linger on hers for a long moment before he forced himself to step away from her and retook his seat.

Not willing to lose complete contact, she pulled her own chair over until their knees were brushing. "Okay, convince me it was the ex."

Castle picked up the file from her desk and pointed to the paragraph that had caught his attention. "Rosie's boyfriend stated that he had accepted a position in Florida with his company," he began. "He'd asked Rosie to marry him and go with him. From all we've been able to find, Rosie was planning on doing just that."

"Right," she agreed. "The principal confirmed that she'd asked about getting the boys transcripts as soon as the semester ended."

"Frank Templeton did not make the kind of money that would allow him to remain a part of his children's lives if Rosie took them to Florida," Castle continued. "There was no way he could afford trips to Florida or plane tickets to bring the kids here on a regular basis. However, if Rosie's dead, he gets full custody of the boys."

Beckett took the folder from him and flipped through the pages until she found the page where Ryan had confirmed Frank's alibi for the morning of the murder. "His alibi is his girlfriend."

"She could easily be covering for him," he pointed out.

"I'll have a uniform pick her up first thing in the morning," Kate said with a grin. "Nice work, Castle."

"Why thank you, Detective Beckett," he replied with a smile.

Kate closed the file and returned it to her desk. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home. We've still got time for a couple of hours of sleep."

He leered at her as they made their way to the elevator. "Did you just say 'we', Kate?"

"You know what I meant, Castle," she replied as they stepped inside.

"Does that mean you're not staying?" he asked as he leaned a shoulder against the back wall and looked at her.

She made a show of letting her gaze travel the length of his body before meeting his eyes again. "Not tonight, Castle. There's not enough time for all the things I want to do to you."

He leaned his head back and joined her in her laughter, both of them glad that they were back on track.

* * *

_You know the drill, folks. I would love to hear from you._


	5. April

_Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review this story. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. _

_For the record, I still don't own these characters. I'm also not sure that I needed to change the rating, but I thought it better to be safe than sorry. _

* * *

It was dark except for the glow from the television screen which was playing a classic Disney film for the uninterested occupants of the room. Richard Castle and Kate Beckett had long ago stopped feigning interest in the curse that had turned the prince into a horrible beast and the only woman who had dared to look beyond the exterior to find the heart of the man beating within. Instead, they were stretched out on the couch, their legs intertwined as their hands and lips caressed each other.

Castle slid his hand underneath Kate's shirt from the smooth skin of her back to tease along her side until he felt the constricting material of her bra. He stilled his hand then and moved his lips from her neck up to her ear. "I want to feel you, Kate."

She just about had the buttons on his shirt completely opened and had no desire to stop, so she leaned in to nip his neck as she replied, "Front clasp."

Accepting that as her permission, he wasted no time in opening the clasp of her bra and pushing the material from her breasts. His mouth returned to hers as he cupped one breast in his hand and squeezed it gently.

Kate moaned her appreciation into the kiss as she finally succeeded in unbuttoning his shirt. She then brought her hands back to his shoulders and parted the material to give her hands access to the bare expanse of his chest.

Castle shifted his weight to his left elbow, pressing Kate further into the back of the couch as he eased his lips from her mouth back down to her neck. He used his chin to push the material of her shirt down as far as possible to allow him to taste the flavor that was uniquely her as he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

He groaned when he felt her lips on his shoulder, her tongue teasing across his clavicle as her hands trailed mercilessly down to his stomach. When he felt her teeth nip into his skin, he pulled back to look at her. She offered him a sultry smile as she met his gaze. "Just marking what's mine, Castle," she offered by way of explanation.

He couldn't help but smile in return. Their fight last month had forced both of them to realize just how much they meant to each other, and while neither one of them was ready to label it what they both knew it was, the shift towards something permanent had undeniably taken place. He glanced down at the tan, long-sleeved pullover she'd worn to his apartment and then met her gaze again. "Take it off."

She raised an eyebrow at the order, but there was no hesitation in her compliance. Before the material even hit the floor, his mouth latched on to the nipple not currently enveloped in his hand. Kate gasped at the sensation and brought her hands to the back of his head, holding him to her as she arched into his touch.

After a trying week at work, it was nice to unwind with him. Since Alexis was out of town on Spring Break, and Martha was busy with Chet, they had the entire apartment to themselves. Their movie night had turned into an impromptu make-out session and Kate was extremely pleased to discover that Castle was as good at using his mouth for other things as he was for spinning theatrical tales around their murder cases.

The ringing of Kate's phone caused them both to freeze.

Castle lifted his head to meet her gaze. "We can pretend we didn't hear it."

Kate sighed and dropped her head onto the arm of the couch, knowing that their make-out session wasn't going to progress any farther tonight. Correctly reading her body language, Castle shifted to reach her phone and handed it to her.

"Beckett," she said, forcing her frustration aside. She listened intently for a minute and then offered a terse. "Castle and I will meet you there."

As she ended the call, she met his gaze. Before she could speak, he leaned forward and kissed her gently. "There will be more movie nights, Kate. I promise."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back to her, claiming his lips in a passionate kiss as she committed the feeling of his bare chest pressed against hers to memory. When they finally pulled apart, she offered him a smile. "Something to think about, Castle."

He sat up enough to look down at her naked torso and then leered at her. "Just don't offer me a penny for my thoughts later."

She laughed at that even as she got to her feet. Within minutes, the two were redressed and on their way out the door to the next crime scene.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Castle held up the crime scene tape and waited until Kate walked under it before joining her on the other side with Ryan and Esposito.

"What do we have?" Kate asked as she opened her notebook and pulled out her pen.

"It looks like a murder – suicide," Esposito replied. At Kate's raised eyebrow, he elaborated. "I said it looks like, not that it is. Lanie isn't ready to rule out murder – murder yet."

Kate nodded. "Who found the bodies?"

Ryan pointed to a security guard standing just inside the tape. "Devin Duncan. I've already got his statement. He heard shots, called 911, and then went to investigate."

"Do we have i.d. on the victims yet?" Kate asked as the four started walking into the office building.

"According to the security guard, the man is Victor Shane. He says he's never seen the woman before," Ryan replied. "Mr. Shane is the personal assistant to the vice-president of operations here at Tabor."

"What kind of business do they operate here?" Kate asked as the four of them entered the elevator.

"They're a distributor for dinnerware," Esposito offered. "Apparently, everything from the high-end china patterns to the low-end everyday generic brands."

"Isn't that a bit odd that they don't specialize in one or the other?" Castle asked, finally joining the conversation after giving the detectives time to exchange information.

Esposito shrugged. "I have no idea, Castle. If it's not recyclable and doesn't come in a package of at least a hundred, odds are good that I've never bought it."

Kate smiled at the exchange, knowing how much the detectives liked to tease Castle about his lifestyle. One thing she had learned in the last few months was that while Castle did have extravagant tastes, he was also very practical.

As they reached their destination, Kate forced her thoughts back to the case. She stepped off of the elevator and looked around to absorb the scene before heading towards the main crime scene. Ryan and Esposito waited in the lobby while Castle followed her wordlessly. They had been working together long enough now that they all understood how she liked to see the scene for herself, to absorb the details for her overall impression, before she discussed it any further.

Kate looked around the office, ignoring the crime scene technicians who were already busy cataloging evidence as well as the other officers on scene. She made a note of the two partially filled glasses sitting on the credenza beside what appeared to be Thai takeout. Whatever had happened here, it looked as if the evening had started with a sociable dinner.

"Talk to me, Lanie," Kate said as she approached the bodies sprawled in the middle of the office floor.

Lanie looked up with a grim smile. "The female victim took two nine millimeters to the chest. The male victim took one in the temporal bone."

Kate pointed to the gun lying next to the male victim. "Esposito says you're not ready to rule it a murder-suicide."

Lanie lifted the male victim's right hand, which was already enclosed in an evidence bag to prevent contamination. "There are fresh bruises on his knuckles," Lanie pointed out.

"Is it possible he roughed up our female victim?" Castle asked as he looked over at the other body.

"I haven't found any matching marks on her," Lanie replied. "At least, not any visible marks. I'll know for sure after I complete my examination."

"We'll treat it as a double homicide until you tell me otherwise," Kate told her. Turning her attention back to Castle, she nodded toward the door. "Let's go talk to our security guard."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Positive i.d. on our female vic," Esposito said as he walked towards Kate's desk.

Kate turned her attention away from the whiteboard as Ryan and Castle joined them from the break room with fresh cups of coffee for everyone. "Thanks, man," Esposito said as he took the offered cup from Ryan and Castle walked past him to hand Kate a cup as well.

She offered him a tired smile. "Thank you."

He gave her a wink and then turned back to face the others as Esposito continued. "Her name is Julie Reed. Single, twenty-nine, owned a flower shop called 'Impressions' downtown. No criminal record."

"Do you have her address?" Kate asked.

Esposito handed her a sheet of paper. "Do you want us to go with you?"

Kate shook her head. "No. I'll take Castle with me. You guys go home and get some sleep. We'll meet back here in the morning."

Kate took the time to track down the superintendent of the building and confirmed that he would meet them at Julie's apartment before her and Castle headed out as well.

Kate looked over at Castle as she maneuvered her way through the streets of downtown. He had been unusually quiet since they'd left the station. "Penny for your thoughts, Castle," she offered as she stopped at a traffic light.

His smile lit up his face as he turned to look at her. His eyes travelled the length of her body and then slowly made their way back up to meet hers. She felt her body react to the heat in his gaze and she couldn't help but laugh when he said, "Are you sure you really want to know what I'm thinking, Beckett?"

Turning her attention back to the road when the light changed, she charged ahead. "Absolutely. Because I know you haven't been sitting over there thinking about the many different ways you want to ravage my body. You're being too quite."

"You're right," he admitted with a shrug. "But that doesn't mean I'm not now."

She risked another glance in his direction and met his eyes again. "Later."

"I'm going to hold you to that, you know," he replied.

"I hope so," she responded. "So what's going through that mind of yours?"

"Just wondering how a florist and a personal assistant to a dinnerware distributor end up together," he replied.

"Maybe it's as simple as the two of them meeting when he stopped into her shop to purchase flowers," Kate offered.

"Maybe," Castle agreed. "Or maybe they're conspiring together."

Kate shook her head and resigned herself to whatever story he was going to weave. "Think about it," Castle continued. "A struggling florist shop owner meets up with the right hand man to the largest dinnerware distributor in the state of New York. For him, it's love at first sight. For her, it's an opportunity to finally make a name for herself. Julie knows from her relationship with Victor that Tabor is negotiating with one of New York's finest caterers to provide dinnerware for all of their events. Hoping to get her name out there, Julie convinces Victor to give her Tabor's contact. Not seeing the harm in simply giving out contact information, Victor agrees. The two meet for dinner in his office, where the exchange is to take place, only things don't go as planned. Victor suddenly realized that Julie was only interested in what he could do for her career and he confronts her about it. When she admits that she doesn't love him, Victor loses it. He pulls out his gun and shoots her. Overcome with guilt and loss, he then turns the gun on himself, bringing their love story to its tragic conclusion."

Kate glanced over as they pulled up outside Julie's apartment building. "Great story, Castle. But what about the bruises on Victor's knuckles and the lack of bruising anywhere on Julie?"

"In an attempt to control his rising anger, he took a punch at the wall?" Castle offered as they got out of the car.

"Your story needs work," she teased.

"Just a rough draft," he defended.

They shared a smile as they entered the apartment building and headed towards the elevator. "Lanie's convinced there was a third person in that office," Kate stated. "Aside from the bruised knuckles which suggest an altercation, there was also slight bruising around Victor Shane's neck."

"So you think someone grabbed him from behind, put the gun to his head and then pulled the trigger?" Castle asked.

"The crime scene techs are running that scenario with the evidence they collected," she agreed as they stepped off the elevator.

They made their way down the hall and Kate pulled out her badge for the older man waiting outside apartment twelve. "Thank you for meeting us, Mr. Groll."

"I'm sorry to hear about Julie," he replied as he unlocked the door for them. "She was a nice young lady. She always brought flowers for my wife when she came in to pay her rent."

Kate pushed the door opened and stepped inside. Seeing that the place appeared to have been ransacked, she turned back to Mr. Groll. "Would you please wait outside?" The man nodded his agreement and stepped back fully into the hallway. Kate then turned her attention to Castle as she un-holstered her gun. "Stay behind me and don't do anything stupid, Castle."

For once, Castle actually listened to her instructions and he followed close behind her as she cleared the apartment. Finally satisfied that they were alone, Castle pulled out her cell phone and called the station for a crime scene unit to be sent out. Not willing to disturb any possible evidence, she led Castle back out into the hallway.

"This is shaping up to be an incredibly long night," she commented after thanking Mr. Groll once again and assuring him that they could handle things from there.

"And nothing at all how I envisioned losing hours of sleep when our evening first started," Castle agreed.

Kate smiled at him. "You can go home if you want, Castle. There's no need for both of us to sit here on our thumbs while the crime scene techs do their thing."

"I don't mind waiting," he replied as he leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor. "Besides, at least we've gotten to spend the night together."

Kate merely shook her head as she sat down cross-legged across from him. Trust Castle to still be spouting innuendo at three in the morning after a week filled with interrupted sleep and never-ending murder cases. He always seemed to find a way to make her smile. It was no wonder she was falling in love with him.

Kate nearly gasped as the realization hit her full force. At some point in the last few months, Richard Castle had undeniably wormed his way into her heart. As she pondered the idea, she was surprised that it no longer scared her.

"Penny for your thoughts," Castle offered, his quiet voice bringing her thoughts back to the present.

"I'm not cheap, Castle," she replied with a wink.

"Two cents then," he retaliated.

Instead of answering him, she merely looked at him and allowed the feeling to fully envelope her. She was head-over-heels in love with Richard Castle. Admitting it brought a smile to her lips.

Seeing the slow smile that spread across her face piqued Castle's curiosity. "How about an even grand?"

"It's worth way more than a grand," she teased him as she heard the ding of the elevator.

"How much?" he asked as he watched her get to her feet and turn her attention to the approaching crime scene team.

She offered him one last look and a whispered, "Priceless."

Castle sat there and watched her for several minutes, wondering exactly what had been going through her mind to put such a radiant smile on her face. Whatever it was, he sure hoped it involved him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Three days later)

"Do you ever wonder why Mother Nature feels like she has to drop an entire month's worth of rain in one day?" Castle asked as he unlocked the door to his apartment.

"I like to think of it as the universe having a sense of humor," Kate replied as she followed him in the door, both of them trying unsuccessfully to keep from dripping on everything. "The sun was out all day yesterday and we were inside the precinct following up on leads and doing paperwork. Today we have to chase a suspect through downtown and it's pouring."

Castle kicked off his shoes and dropped his jacket onto the floor. "I feel like I took a shower with all of my clothes on."

Kate laughed as she peeled her own wet jacket off and dropped it on top of his. "You look like you did, too."

Castle turned to look at her and immediately regretted it. The pale pink button down blouse she had worn to work that morning was completely soaked, making it nearly transparent. He forced his eyes up to meet hers, but not before his brain registered the fact that he could easily make out the outline of her nipples through the wet material covering her. Their double homicide had left them no time to pick up where they'd left off three nights ago on his couch; and while there had been much flirting and casual touching that had taken place in that time frame, his body was doing a wonderful job of reminding him how incredible it had felt to have her bare chest pressed against his.

Seeing the look in his eyes, Kate glanced down at her blouse. "What?"

"Nothing," Castle replied as he took a step away from her. "I'll go get a couple of towels."

Kate laughed as he walked further into the apartment, realizing what had made him so uncomfortable. She loved teasing him, but it was even more fun when she wasn't doing it on purpose. Her clothes were completely soaked from chasing down their suspect earlier, and she was beginning to feel the chill so she unbuttoned her blouse and shrugged out of it. It had been Castle's idea to bring a cab back to his place to change clothes before picking her car up at the scene and heading back to the station. Since she always kept a bag in her car, she'd grabbed it and allowed him to hail a cab, knowing they had plenty of time before their suspect was processed and ready for questioning.

"Here's a towel," Castle said as he made his way back. When he noticed she'd removed her shirt and was working on peeling her wet jeans from her hips, he gasped. "Kate?"

She looked up at him with a grin. "Please, Castle. I'm cold. It's not like it was hiding anything, and even if it was, it's not like you haven't seen it."

He stood there dumbfounded as she finished removing her jeans and dropped them on the pile of wet clothes. She then reached for the towel he still held in his hand and wrapped it around her body as she continued her assault on him. "Or have you forgotten that already?"

He shook his head as she secured the towel in a knot above her breasts and then stepped over in front of him. "As sexy as you are standing there with that shirt clinging to your chest," she said as she reached out and started unbuttoning it for him. "I strongly suggest you get out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold."

He lowered his eyes to watch her fingers slowly slide each button through the button holes on his shirt. "You're playing a very dangerous game today, Kate."

"I know," she replied as she smiled at him. "I like living dangerously."

His eyes narrowed and he dropped them to the top of her towel. "We both know we don't have time for this right now."

"I'm tired of that song," she said as she trailed a finger down the skin exposed from his open shirt. "We need to make time for this…for us."

He clenched his hands into fists at his sides, knowing that if he touched her now, he wouldn't be able to stop. "We will," he promised.

She dropped her hand to her side, wanting desperately to take advantage of the situation, but knowing that they really didn't have time. She took a deep breath to tamp down the desire flowing through her and then met his gaze. "Could I take a quick shower?"

He let out a breath and then smiled at her. "Absolutely. Use the guest bathroom upstairs. There are extra towels are in the closet behind the door."

She nodded and then reached for her bag before heading for the shower. Castle turned to watch her walk away and then shook his head. The woman was trying to kill him. There was no other explanation for it. She was trying to kill him, and he loved her for it.

He smiled as he realized he had just given a label to what he already knew had been going on between them. Surprisingly enough, the idea wasn't at all unpleasant. In fact, the possibility of spending the rest of his life with Kate Beckett was one that held quite a bit of appeal. With a grin still plastered to his face, he pulled his shirt and jeans off and dropped them on top of the pile and then gathered them together and took them to the laundry room before heading to his bedroom for a quick shower himself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Later that night)

Castle balanced a pizza in his left hand as he unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped back to allow Kate to precede him inside. Their suspect had confessed within minutes of being brought into the interrogation room, and they had spent the afternoon wrapping up the paperwork and making sure that the district attorney had everything he needed to ensure a maximum sentence.

"I still don't understand the connection between Julie and her killer," Castle said. "I mean, the man killed her and her boyfriend, but yet he admits that they had never had a relationship."

Kate shook her head as they made their way to the kitchen. "He was stalking her, Castle," she reminded him. "In his mind, they were very involved. So when she started dated Victor Shane, Martin felt threatened. When he confronted the two of them at the office, her denial of even knowing him caused him to snap. After he shot her, he knew he had to eliminate Victor as well. If Victor hadn't managed to get in a solid punch, we might not have realized it wasn't actually a murder-suicide."

Castle sat the pizza on the island and then turned to the cabinets to pull out a couple of plates while Kate peeled off her jacket and draped it on the back of a chair. "It never ceases to amaze me the things people will do to each other," Castle commented.

"Especially to someone they claim to love," Kate added as she invaded his space and slipped her arms around his waist.

He quickly emptied his hands to return her embrace. "Mother called earlier to tell me she was staying at Chet's tonight," he informed her as he leaned down to brush his lips against hers. "Will you stay?

"What time does Alexis's flight get in tomorrow?" she asked as she pulled back to look up at him.

"Four o'clock tomorrow afternoon," he replied.

She pulled away from him completely then and held out her hand. "Give me your phone, Castle."

He raised an eyebrow in question, but handed over his phone anyway. He watched as she turned it off and then took her own phone out and did the same. She placed them both beside the pizza box and then reached for his hand.

He smiled as he placed his hand in hers and pulled her back into his embrace. "Is that a yes?"

"Oh yeah," she replied as he started backing her towards the stairs.

"What about the pizza?" he teased as he lowered his mouth to her neck.

"It's just as good cold as it is hot," she replied. "Now shut up and take me to bed, Castle."

He smiled at that. "Now there's an order you will never find me disobeying."

She laughed and then brushed a kiss against his lips before squirming out of his embrace and racing up the stairs. He wasted no time in following her and their laughter echoed through the apartment as they entered his bedroom and closed the door behind them.

* * *

_As mentioned before, reviews make my day, so please, help a writer out. Besides, they inspire me to write faster and I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what's in store for May. :-)_


	6. May

___Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to write a review. They are always appreciated. _This chapter is dedicated to Carolina17 in celebration of her birthday in the month of May.

* * *

Kate stepped under the spray of the hot water and closed her eyes as it cascaded down her body. As much as she liked her own apartment, there was no denying that Castle had a much nicer shower at his. It was large enough to easily accommodate four people, and the built in body jets worked wonders on sore, tired muscles. Not to mention that the fact she was using Castle's shower generally meant she had spent the night in his arms, and that had quickly become one of her favorite pastimes.

She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face when she felt Castle join her. "Good morning," he said as he stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Good morning," she replied as he lowered his mouth to her neck.

"I thought we were sleeping in this morning," he grumbled against her skin as he took the soap from her hands and lathered his own before slowly gliding them over her wet body.

She leaned back against him with a sigh as he ran his soapy hands from her stomach up to her breasts and then across her shoulders and down her arms until their hands were interlocked. "We did sleep in," she offered. "It's already after seven."

She felt the rumble of his laughter where her back was pressed against his chest. "It's also a holiday weekend," he pointed out. "Not to mention that you're not even on call this weekend. I think we might need to work on your definition of sleeping in."

She untangled their fingers so she could turn to face him. "You've got to take the more optimistic viewpoint, Castle," she said as she pressed her slick body against his and felt him harden against her in response. "If we were still sleeping, we couldn't be doing this."

He nodded his head in acknowledgement before his lips captured hers. His hands moved to cup her ass and press her more fully against him as he maneuvered them completely beneath the spray of water to rinse the soap from her body before pressing her fully against the tile wall.

His hands glided over her wet skin to find her breasts and squeeze them gently before lowering his head to suck one hardened nipple into his mouth. Her hands moved to the back of his head to press him more firmly against her as she shifted her hips against his in an attempt to get him inside her body.

He laughed against her skin and then lifted his head to look at her. "Impatient this morning, aren't we?"

"You're the one who interrupted my shower," she replied as she took a step towards him.

His smile turned to a groan when she dropped to her knees and took him in her mouth. His hands moved to the tile behind her to keep his balance as she set up a furious pace that quickly found him on the edge of losing control. Drawing a gasping breath, he moved his hands to her shoulders and pulled her away from him. "Kate, you have to stop."

She grinned as he helped her to her feet. His hands moved to her hips and lifted her enough to quickly sheath himself inside of her. As she wrapped her legs around his waist and leaned back against the tile, she couldn't help but tease him. "Now who's being impatient?"

"You are a wicked woman," he replied as he slowly withdrew from her heat before plunging back into her welcoming depths.

"Only when something is standing in the way of what I want," she offered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth to hers.

"And what is it that you want?" he breathed against her lips.

She pulled back to meet his eyes, hers dark with desire and shining with what he could only hope was a reflection of his own love for her. "You, Rick," she admitted. "Only you."

Her words snapped what was left of his control and he claimed her lips in a savage kiss as he pounded into her body until they were both crying out in ecstasy. He held her until their breathing returned to normal and then he slowly lowered her back to her feet as he peppered her face with gentle kisses.

When they finally separated after several long kisses, he smiled at her. "You're right."

"About what?" she asked as she reached for the soap.

"This is definitely better than sleeping in," he replied with a wink.

She laughed as she lathered her hands and began washing his body. Any day that started with making love with Castle had to be a good one.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Have you figured out who murdered him yet?" Kate asked as she pulled her chair over to sit next to Castle at the white board.

Castle jumped at the sound of her voice, his thoughts having long ago drifted from the case they were working back to the previous weekend. Kate, Alexis and he had spent a lazy Saturday visiting Madame Tussaud's and the Museum of Modern Art before landing back at the apartment for a Harry Potter movie marathon. As he'd relaxed on the couch with Kate's head in his lap, it had once again amazed him how completely relaxed she was when it was just the three of them. Not to mention how supportive Alexis had always been of their relationship. In fact, when he'd told Alexis about the change in his relationship with Kate, he'd been surprised by the roll of her eyes that accompanied her comment that it was about time. She had then assured him that he was making the right decision and that Kate was a wonderful woman.

Their time spent together over the holiday weekend had made him realize how lucky he was to have Kate in his life. Since admitting to himself that he was in love with her, he'd come to appreciate how easily she and Alexis had bonded with each other. It was important for him that Alexis have a strong, positive, female role model in her life, and he knew that Kate was the perfect woman to fit that bill, especially since his mother was spending more time at Chet's than she was at his place these days. For the first time, he felt as if the family he'd imagined for them was actually possible.

Realizing that Kate was looking at him expectantly, he shook his head to clear it. "Sorry, I was lost in thought," he admitted. "What did you say?"

"I asked if you had figured out who murdered him yet," Kate replied. "But I think I might want to amend my question to find out where your thoughts were just now."

Castle glanced around the station to make sure nobody was within earshot before meeting her gaze again. "Are you sure you want me to answer that question, Detective?" he asked with a grin, allowing his eyes to slowly wander down her body.

Recognizing the tactic as his way of avoiding getting into a serious conversation at the precinct, she arched an eyebrow and waited until his eyes met hers again. When they finally did, she expected to see laughter in his blue depths and was surprised by the heat in his gaze. "Is your answer going to make me want to break all the rules about keeping our working relationship and personal relationship separate?" she asked softly, unaccustomed to the blatant display of desire in public.

He shrugged one shoulder as his eyes continued to roam over her body. "It makes me want to," he admitted, wanting nothing more at that moment than to pull her into his arms and tell her how much he loved her.

His gaze was heating her body as easily as if he was physically touching her. Unfortunately, Esposito chose that exact moment to interrupt them. "Yo, Beckett, the warrant just came through for the storage unit."

Kate forced her thoughts back to the case, tamping down the desire flooding her system as she met Esposito's gaze. "Has Ryan finished with the surveillance videos yet?"

"Done," Ryan replied for himself as he joined them.

Kate stood up and pushed her chair back to her desk. "Let's go see what's in that storage unit then."

As the four of them headed for the elevators, Kate laid a hand on Castle's arm to stop him. "We'll finish this later, Castle," she whispered as she stepped past him.

"You can count on that, Beckett," he replied softly as he followed her onto the elevator.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Did you check out Westin's alibi?" Kate asked as she paced in front of the white board.

"The bartender confirmed that he was at the bar until after one a.m.," Ryan replied as he tossed a ball across the desk to Esposito.

"So there's no way he's our killer," Kate stated.

Esposito tossed the ball over to Castle. "What do you think, Castle?"

"The blood in the storage shed had me convinced it was Westin," Castle replied as he tossed the ball in the air and caught it. "But what if he's telling the truth and someone really is setting him up?"

Kate intercepted the ball in mid-flight to Ryan. "Who would gain from Westin being arrested for murder?"

"His business partner, Banks," Ryan offered. "If Westin goes to jail, there's nothing to keep him from taking the company public like he wants."

"Except that he was in Vegas the night Burnett was killed," Esposito reminded them as Kate tossed the ball over to him.

"What about Shelby?" Castle asked.

"Burnett's girlfriend?" Esposito asked as they all turned their attention to him. "What about her?"

"It's obvious that they had a violent relationship," Castle replied. "What if she finally got fed up and pulled the trigger?"

"I could buy that if it weren't for the blood in the storage shed," Kate stated. "A woman in an abusive relationship who finally takes a stand isn't usually going to try to frame one of her boyfriend's business partners for the murder."

"True," Castle agreed as he caught the ball that Esposito once again tossed his way.

Kate stopped and looked at the board for a long moment, searching for something that was nagging at her subconscious. Her eyes narrowed as she read their timeline once again and then turned to the three men looking at her expectantly. "What was Jesse's alibi for the night of the murder?"

"Shelby's brother?" Ryan asked even as he opened the file to find the information. "He says he was at home asleep."

"Was anyone with him?" Kate asked.

"No," Ryan replied. "And when we checked with his neighbors, nobody could attest to having seen him come home that night."

"You think Jesse did it?" Castle asked.

"Think about it," Kate said. "He knows his sister is in an abusive relationship, but she refuses to admit it, much less to leave Burnett. Jesse admitted that he was at the bar that night and heard Westin and Burnett arguing about the business. What if he decided to confront Burnett about Shelby? Then when things got a little heated, Jesse pulled out a gun to make sure Burnett knew he was serious."

"Only Burnett wasn't scared by the gun and threatened to make things worse on Shelby if Jesse didn't mind his own business," Castle stated, taking over the story. "Maybe they struggled, or maybe Jesse just panicked and shot him. Suddenly realizing what he'd done, he took the keys to the storage shed and planted just enough evidence to hopefully put the suspicion on Westin."

"There's no way we're going to be able to prove it," Esposito said.

Kate grinned as she looked over at them. "We don't have to," she replied. "We just have to put enough pressure on Shelby to make Jesse confess."

Esposito reached for the phone. "I'll have a couple of uniforms bring them in."

"Nice work, Beckett," Castle offered as he tossed her the ball.

"We're not finished yet, Castle," she reminded him.

"I was referring to the story you wove," he replied with a grin. "I think I might actually be rubbing off on you."

"In your dreams, Castle," she replied with a smirk as she tossed the ball back to him. "In your dreams."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Is everything okay?" Kate asked, motioning to the phone Castle was holding in his hand as they stepped into the elevator at his building.

"Alexis was just letting me know that she's staying over at Paige's house tonight," he replied as he looked over at her.

Kate had been right about Jesse. As soon as they'd made it appear that Shelby was going to take the fall for Burnett's murder, he'd confessed. When Kate had questioned him, Jesse had admitted that he'd gone to the club to confront Burnett about not only his abuse of Shelby, but also about the fact that he was cheating on her with another woman. When Burnett had laughed in his face, Jesse had shot him.

Kate stepped over in front of Castle, invading his personal space but not quite touching him. "Does that mean you're going to invite me to stay?" she asked.

"Do you still feel like you need an invitation?" he asked as he lifted his hands to her waist, not pulling her any closer, but merely allowing himself the pleasure of the contact.

She took a moment to think about his question before she finally shook her head. "No, not really," she replied as she met his gaze.

"Good," he replied. "Because you are always welcome."

"Even if I just want to come over and spend some quality girl time with Alexis?" she teased as she lifted her hands to his shoulders and leaned into him.

His hands on her waist tightened and pushed her back just enough to insure that he had her full attention before he spoke. "Especially then, Kate."

It dawned on her then exactly what he was offering and the gravity of it made her knees tremble. "You're entrusting me with Alexis?"

The elevator doors opened then and he smiled as he took her hand in his and they stepped out onto his floor. Kate used the short walk to the apartment to ponder the enormity of what his statement meant. Once they were inside his apartment, she pulled on his hand to turn him back to face her. Did he know what he was implying? She wasn't sure how to ask the question. "Rick?"

He looked into her eyes and lifted a hand to caress her cheek. "I love you, Kate," he said softly, a smile forming on his face as he allowed the words he'd said to her hundreds of times in his heart to finally cross his lips.

Her eyes searched his as a smile broke out on her face. "I love you, too."

The ease with which she offered the words confirmed that she had been practicing them in her heart for quite some time as well. His smile widened as his arms went around her and he pulled her into his embrace. Her arms wound around his neck and she leaned up to meet his lips in a kiss that was tender and yet full of promise.

When they slowly parted, he grinned at her. "I'm going to marry you someday, Kate Beckett."

Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at him. He laughed at the expression on her face and then leaned down to kiss her again. "Relax, Kate. I'm not proposing tonight. I just want to give you time to get used to the idea."

Finally finding her voice, she chuckled. "Who says I need time to get used to the idea?" she teased as she stepped out of his embrace and headed towards the kitchen.

He stood there dumbfounded for a full minute before her laughter finally reached him. "Relax, Castle," she called to him. "I'm just giving you time to get used to the idea."

He shook his head and laughed at himself. A lifetime wouldn't be long enough to be able to predict what she would throw at him next. It was just one of the many things he loved about her.

* * *

_If you would kindly take a few seconds and hit the review button, it would make my day._


	7. June

_Okay, just a little explanation before you start this one. This chapter jumps back and forth in time throughout the story. I've tried to mark it clearly to eiliminate any confusion. Hope you enjoy._

* * *

Kate stood to the right of the apartment door with Castle tucked securely behind her. Moving her gun to her left hand, she waited until Esposito took his position on the opposite side of the door with Ryan at his back and then she reached over and pounded on the door. "Eric Polson! Police! Open the door."

Hearing movement inside the apartment, she gave the signal and Esposito used the master key they'd retrieved from the manager to unlock the door. Using only hand signals to communicate, the three detectives took their positions and then Esposito pushed the door open. No sooner had the door begun to move than shots rang out at them.

"Cover!" Kate called.

Ryan and Esposito both fired into the apartment as Kate used the diversion to dive into the apartment and duck behind the sofa. Keeping her head low as Polson once again began firing, she moved quickly to the far end of the sofa and then turned back to signal Esposito to enter the apartment and go the opposite direction to make it impossible for Polson to hold them all off.

On Esposito's signal, Kate lifted just high enough to provide cover and allow Esposito to get into position. As soon as he was in place, he nodded over at Kate.

"Polson, you're surrounded," she said. "I've got men on the fire escape and the roof. Drop your weapon and put your hands where I can see them."

His only response was another round of bullets in their direction. As soon as the shots ceased, Kate motioned to Ryan to give them cover and her and Esposito both moved further into the apartment, making sure to keep low and out of sight behind the furniture.

From her position behind the recliner, Kate was able to draw a bead on where Polson was holed up. Needing him to come from behind cover to get a clean shot, she motioned at Ryan to move into the room on her signal. She then turned her attention to Esposito to provide the cover for Ryan, hoping that Polson would be distracted enough by the two of them to allow her to take a shot.

She used her fingers to count down from three and as soon as her hand made a fist, Ryan and Esposito jumped into action. As soon as Esposito stopped firing, Polson lifted just enough to fire another round in the direction of the door they'd entered. Kate seized the opportunity and fired again. The bullet struck him in the shoulder and his gun dropped from his hand. Within seconds, Esposito was on him and had him subdued.

"Clear," Esposito called as he cuffed Polson and then secured his gun.

Kate nodded towards the bedroom, signaling that she would check it to ensure they didn't have any other surprises waiting for them. She heard Esposito radioing for an ambulance as she carefully checked the bedroom and bathroom.

"All clear!" she called out as she holstered her gun, knowing that it was going to be a long night for all of them as they dealt with the aftermath of having fired their weapons.

She was heading out of the bedroom when a muffled curse from Ryan caught her attention. She immediately drew her gun again as she stepped out into the living room. She saw Esposito pulling Polson to his feet, his own attention focused in the direction of Ryan's voice

Keeping her gun at the ready, she called out. "Ryan?"

"Hallway, Beckett," he replied, the panic in his voice making her stomach leap. "It's Castle."

Kate was across the room in a flash, her gun returned to its holster without any conscious thought on her behalf to do so. She stepped through the doorway and the sight that greeted her knocked the air from her lungs. Castle was slumped against the wall, his eyes closed as blood oozed from a gash across his forehead and a bright red stain spread across his shirt beneath the top of his Kevlar vest.

Ryan was kneeling beside him, his hands pressed over the wound in his shoulder. "What the hell?" Kate whispered.

"I need your hands, Beckett," Ryan said.

Kate forced the panic from her mind and kneeled beside them. She maneuvered her hands beneath Ryan's, making sure to keep constant pressure on the wound. "I've got him," she stated.

Ryan removed his hands and moved to the other side of Kate to lower Castle to the floor. Kate shifted with them, keeping pressure on the wound despite the fact that her hands were now slippery with Castle's blood.

"Go get some towels," Kate ordered.

Ryan hesitated for only a moment before getting to his feet and hurrying into the apartment.

Kate lowered her mouth to Castle's ear. "Don't you dare die on me, Rick," she whispered. "I'll never forgive you if you do."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Earlier That Week)

"Say it again," Kate asked as she looked up at Castle. She was leaning against the door just inside of his apartment with his body pressed firmly against hers. He was doing his best to convince her to spend the night, but she had an early morning meeting and thought it would be best to stay at her own apartment for the night. When simply asking hadn't gotten him the agreement he was looking for, he'd resorted to other tactics.

He smiled as he lowered his mouth and brushed his lips against her neck. "I love you," he whispered softly, repeating the phrase that had finally stopped her protests and convinced him that she was at least considering staying.

Kate sighed as she felt the caress from not only his lips, but also the words that he breathed against her skin. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck as she tilted her head slightly to allow him better access to her neck. "I have to be at the station at seven," she reminded him.

"Your alarm will work just as well here as it does at your apartment," he offered as he kissed his way up to her earlobe before gently sucking it into his mouth.

"You hate it when the alarm goes off before six," she pointed out even as she shivered from the sensation of his mouth moving across her skin.

"I hate waking up without you in my arms even more," he countered as one of his hands slid under the material of her t-shirt to trace along the smooth skin of her back.

Kate leaned her head back against the door and met his gaze. "I thought you were going to spend the evening writing."

"That's my fallback plan if I can't convince you to stay," he replied. "I would much rather have you here though."

Alexis stepped around the corner then and raised an eyebrow in their direction. "Has he talked you into staying yet?" she asked. "Because I'm going to have some ice cream if you guys want to join me."

"I'm still working on it," Castle replied.

"You must be losing your touch, dad," Alexis replied, which caused Kate to laugh.

At the wounded look on Castle's face, Kate finally relented. "Okay, I'll stay." Castle smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss as she added, "But I don't want to hear a single word about the alarm when it goes off in the morning."

"Scout's honor," Castle stated as he stepped away from her.

"Chocolate or vanilla?" Alexis asked them as she headed towards the kitchen, glad to see that Kate had decided to stay.

"Chocolate," they answered in unison as they made their way towards the kitchen as well.

Alexis had just pulled the bowls out of the cabinet when Kate's cell phone rang. She glanced at the caller i.d. and then held up a finger to Alexis to ask her to hold off on the ice cream. "It's the precinct," she told them.

Castle moved to the freezer and pulled out the ice cream as he listened to Kate's side of the conversation. It sounded like their night off had just ended.

"I'm sorry, Alexis," Kate said as she disconnected the call. "I'm going to have to take a rain check on the ice cream."

"No problem, Kate," Alexis replied. "It will be here when you get back."

"You coming, Castle?" Kate asked.

"Right behind you," Castle replied. He then turned to Alexis and gave her a hug. "Good night, sweetie."

"'Night, dad. Be careful."

"Always," he replied as he hurried to catch up with Beckett before she got out of the apartment.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Esposito and Ryan met them at the alley's entrance, having become accustomed to the two of them arriving at a scene together.

"What do we have?" Kate asked as Ryan lifted the tape to allow them to cross under it.

Esposito nodded in the direction of the body. "Our victim's name is Shawn Huffman. According to the business card in his wallet, he works for an auto parts distributor on the East side."

The four of them approached the body as Ryan took over. "Uniforms responded to a 911 call of a disturbance in the alley and found him."

Kate acknowledged Lanie's presence with a nod of her head as she took in the condition of the body. It appeared as if their victim had taken quite a beating before he died. "Cause of death, Lanie?" she finally asked.

"My initial guess is blunt force trauma to the head," Lanie replied as she pointed to an area on the skull where a large gash had been opened. "I won't be able to confirm that though until I get him back to the morgue."

"Time of death?"

"Less than two hours," Lanie replied.

Castle looked around the alley before he spoke. "This isn't gang territory, is it?"

"No," Esposito replied. "The gangs in this area are about a mile further north. Why?"

Castle pointed down to the victim's forearm. "His tattoo."

They all glanced down at the tattoo, but the bruising and blood made it hard to distinguish it. "Will you get me a shot of that once you get him cleaned up?" Kate asked Lanie.

"Sure thing," Lanie replied.

"Ryan, Esposito," Kate said as she stepped away from the body. "You guys talk to the residents of the building. Castle and I will hit the businesses on the block and see if anybody remembers seeing our victim this evening."

As the four of them reached the crime scene tape and parted ways, Kate turned to Castle and offered him a smile. "Nice catch on the tattoo, Castle."

He waggled his eyebrows at her and smiled back. "I learned from the best, Detective."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Present Day)

Castle groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. He had the worst headache he could ever recall having in his life and the right side of his body felt like it was on fire. He tried to move, but firm hands held him steady. He finally forced his eyes open to see Kate leaning over him. His vision swam as he tried to focus on her face. "Kate?"

"Castle," she replied as her eyes locked on his. "Don't try to move."

Since even the thought of trying to move made him want to throw up, Castle obliged. "What happened?" he forced out.

She didn't answer him, but even through the disorientation he was experiencing, he could see the fear in her eyes. His instinct was to comfort her, but as he tried to lift his right hand to her face, pain shot through his body. A groan escaped his lips again and he closed his eyes against the wave of dizziness that assaulted him.

He heard Ryan's voice then and forced his eyes back open. He saw Kate lift her hands and noticed that they were covered in blood. Panic filled him instantly. Kate was hurt. He had to help her. He lifted his head and tried to roll to his right side to push himself up.

"Lie still," Kate hissed at him.

"You're bleeding," he mumbled. He tried to ignore the pain, but he had to close his eyes and bite his lip against the nausea his movement caused.

"Help me," Kate said as she looked up at Ryan. "Don't let him move."

"The paramedics are on their way up," Ryan said as he moved to Castle's head and helped Kate stabilize him.

"Look at me, Castle," Kate said.

Castle recognized the tone of her voice as her command voice and knew he needed to pay attention. He forced his eyes back open, but he had to blink several times to bring her face into focus.

"Are you listening?" she asked as she leaned closer.

"Yes," he replied.

Once she was sure she had his attention, she took a deep breath to calm herself before she spoke. "You've been shot," she said.

He tried to process the information, but he had no memory of being shot. "Shot?" he asked her.

"Look at me," she ordered him when his eyes started to drift shut. He immediately forced his eyes back to hers and she continued, "I think you hit your head when you fell. You've got a nasty cut on your forehead and you were unconscious for a minute."

"Blood on your hands," he said, not understanding what she was telling him.

"It's not mine," she assured him, forcing herself to remain calm and not to think about the fact that the man she loved was bleeding all over her.

He seemed to accept that because he finally relaxed. "Tired," he said as his eyes started to drift shut again.

"I know you are," she replied. "But I need you to stay awake for just a little longer."

His eyes opened wide once again and locked on hers. "I love you, Kate."

Ignoring the fact that Ryan was kneeling six inches away from them, Kate lowered her mouth to Castle's and gently kissed him. "I love you, too."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Earlier That Week)

"I just got off the phone with Mark Wilhelm," Ryan said as he carried a file over to Beckett's desk. "He's been Huffman's direct supervisor for the last eight years, and according to him, Shawn was a model employee. He said he's never missed a day of work or even been late in the years he's been working for him."

"What about his gang ties?" Castle asked.

"Wilhelm said Huffman admitted in his job interview that he'd once been involved in a gang, but that after a short stint for robbery, he'd decided to get his life straightened out. Huffman had completed a work rehabilitation program before applying for the position, so Wilhelm had decided to take a chance on him."

"Anything suspicious in his financials?" Kate asked as Esposito joined them.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Esposito replied. "Unless you take into account the fact that he had over fifty thousand dollars in his investment account. I did some digging though and it looks like he put a portion of his earnings every month into that account."

"Beneficiary on that account?" Beckett asked.

"A teenaged sister," Esposito replied. "She was seven when Huffman got arrested."

"Shelby Johnston," Ryan offered. "She's also listed as the beneficiary on his life insurance policy."

"I want to talk to her," Kate stated.

"Already on it," Ryan replied. "Uniforms are bringing her in as we speak."

"What about the woman the deli owner said he saw Huffman with the night of the murder?" Kate asked. "Have we had any luck tracking her down?"

"Not yet," Esposito said. "But we've got officers canvassing the area again today."

"A pretty, young, blonde woman in New York City," Castle commented with just a hint of sarcasm. "She shouldn't be that hard to find."

Kate quirked an eyebrow at him and decided to tease him just a bit. "Maybe we should start with your little black book, Castle. Haven't you dated all of the young blondes in the city?"

"Ouch," Castle replied as he lifted his hand to his chest. "That hurt."

Ryan and Esposito looked at each other, wondering if there was trouble in paradise but the smile and quick wink Kate sent in Castle's direction eased their fears. Things were definitely still okay on that front.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Tell me about your brother," Kate said as she sat across from Shelby Johnston in the interrogation room.

"Shawn was a great guy," Shelby replied. "He'd been in a gang when he was a teenager and had gotten arrested for robbery. It was probably the best thing that could have happened to him. When he got out of jail, he signed up for a work rehab program and promised me and mom that he would keep his nose clean."

"Did you know that he had an investment account set up with you as the beneficiary?" Kate probed.

Shelby nodded. "He told me it was for college. He made me promise that I would stay away from the gangs and get good grades in high school and that he would make sure I got to college. It was kind of his dream for me…to make sure I made something of myself." After a brief pause, she continued, "My mom was barely sixteen when she had Shawn and things were pretty rough on him when he was younger. They didn't get any better when she met my dad and found out she was pregnant with me. I think that's part of why Shawn turned to the gang. Once he was old enough to get out of the house though, he was finally able to turn things around for himself."

"Can you think of anyone who would want to kill your brother?" Kate asked.

The girl fought hard to keep the tears that were filling her eyes from falling as she shook her head. "Everybody loved Shawn. He was just a great guy. He was even trying to help one of my friends with some trouble she was having with her boyfriend."

"What does your friend look like?" Castle asked, finally joining the conversation.

"Sherry?" Shelby asked. She shrugged and then continued, "Typical cheerleader type. Good looking, athletic, pretty smile."

Castle looked over at Kate and realized that she was thinking the same thing as he was…they might have just found the young blonde that Shawn had been seen with the night he'd been murdered.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Present Day)

"Kate!"

Kate stopped pacing at the sound of Alexis's voice and turned in time to see Esposito bringing her through the emergency room doors. Kate was surprised that instead of anger focused in her direction, Alexis ran straight to her side and wrapped her arms around Kate's waist. "Is my dad okay?" Alexis asked as Kate returned her hug.

"They're evaluating him now," Kate said. "I'm sorry that I couldn't come and get you myself."

"It's okay," Alexis assured her. "I'm glad you were here with dad."

"How are you doing?" Kate asked as she stroked her hand through Alexis's hair, drawing as much comfort from the gesture as she offered Alexis.

Alexis pulled back enough to look up at Kate's face. "I'm better now that I'm here with you. How about you? Are you okay?"

Kate nodded and offered a small smile, glad that the nurse had insisted that she change into scrubs and get out of the blood covered clothes she'd worn into the hospital. The last thing Alexis needed was to see her covered in her father's blood. "I'm fine, sweetie," Kate assured her.

"What happened? Detective Esposito wouldn't tell me anything."

Kate reached a hand up and pushed the hair off of Alexis's face. "We went to arrest a suspect today and he opened fire on us," she explained. "Your dad was in the hallway when we entered the apartment and knew to stay put until we gave the all clear. When Ryan went back out into the hallway, he found your dad. It looks like he was shot, and quite possibly hit his head when he fell."

Esposito reached their sides then and picked up the story. "I just got off the phone with Ryan," he told them. "CSU's determined that a bullet hit the doorframe and ricocheted into the hallway and since they can't find the bullet, they're fairly certain it's the one that struck Castle. They also found blood on the edge of the frame that coincides with the gash on his head."

"How bad is it?" Alexis asked.

Kate looked down at the young girl she had come to love as a daughter and had to swallow past a lump in her throat. "He lost consciousness when he hit his head so the doctors are concerned about a concussion. They've got the bleeding under control from the bullet, but they don't want to take him to surgery until they've had time to evaluate the extent of the head injury."

"Can I see him?" Alexis asked.

"They're doing a CT scan right now," Kate told her. "As soon as they bring him back to the room, I'll make sure you get to see him."

"Gram was at the theater for rehearsal today," Alexis said.

"I know," Kate replied. "I sent someone to get her."

"Can you stay?' Alexis asked. "Or do you need to get back to work?"

Kate pulled her back into her embrace and kissed the top of her head. "I'm not going anywhere until I know your dad is going to be okay, Alexis."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Earlier That Week)

Castle looked up from his computer when he heard the door to his office close. He smiled when he saw Kate leaning against it wearing a pair of his boxers and one of his t-shirts. "I thought you were turning in," he commented.

"I couldn't sleep," she explained as she straightened and made her way across the room to his desk.

He saved his work on the computer and shut it down for the night. "I like the look," he said as he scooted his chair back to allow her between him and the desk.

"Since Alexis is here tonight, I didn't think I should come looking for you in my usual sleeping attire," she offered with a shrug as she stepped between his legs. When they spent the night together, they usually both slept naked…even if all they were doing was sleeping. She loved the feel of his skin against hers and hated having barriers between them.

His hands slowly trailed up the smooth skin of her legs as she leaned against the edge of his desk. "So why can't you sleep?" he asked.

"I can't shake the feeling that Polson is our guy," she admitted, hating the fact that she was unable to leave work behind but trusting him enough to know that he understood.

"Your instincts are usually right," he assured her as he met her gaze, his hands continuing to caress her legs. "So why do you think it's him?"

"Sherry is a scared eighteen year old girl," she replied. "When she confided to Shelby that she'd gotten mixed up with an older man and wasn't sure how to get out of the relationship, Shelby called her brother for advice. Shawn agreed to talk to Sherry and the same night they met, he ended up dead. I just don't buy the coincidence angle."

Castle actually agreed that Polson was their guy. Something about him had made his skin crawl while they had interviewed him that morning. "Sherry is his alibi for the night," Castle reminded her as he traced his hands under the material of the boxers she wore before changing directions and moving back down her legs.

"Exactly," Kate replied. "He told us that he met Sherry at the diner and the two of them went home together, and Sherry confirmed the story."

"Do you think Polson somehow found out that Sherry was meeting with Huffman and followed her?" Castle asked as his hands reached the back of her knees and he once again shifted directions, bringing his hands to the front of her knees before beginning to trail them back up her legs.

"The deli owner is certain that he didn't see Polson that night," Kate said as she shifted her weight slightly, his gentle caresses causing warmth to spread throughout her body.

"He could have waited outside for them," Castle pointed out as his hands once again reached the barrier of her shorts.

"It still doesn't explain why Sherry would cover for him," Kate said. She gasped then as he slid his fingers under the boxers and into her heat.

"You've already explained that," he pointed out as he established a slow rhythm with his fingers, relishing in the little gasps she made every time he slid back into her depths. "Sherry is a scared eighteen year old girl who's messed up with an older man and has no idea how to get out of the relationship."

Kate brought her hands to Castle's shoulders to anchor herself as he continued to pleasure her. "So why not come clean with the police? It's a way out of the relationship."

"Sometimes the devil you know is less scary than the one you don't," Castle offered as he moved his thumb to her clit and flicked it hard.

"God, Castle," Kate moaned as he repeated the action, her hips thrusting against his hand of their own volition.

"Do you think Sherry was there when Polson killed Huffman?" Castle asked as he increased his pace, watching as her eyes slid shut against her building orgasm.

"No way," Kate managed to get out between gasps for breath.

"Then maybe he put her in a cab," Castle suggested, his fingers never losing their rhythm.

Her eyes shot open at that. She would have to check on that first thing in the morning. She felt a smile burst across her face just before the first waves of orgasm crashed over her. "I love you, Rick."

"I love you, too," he replied as he continued to stroke her, drawing out the pleasure for as long as he could.

When she could finally speak again, she leaned forward and brushed a kiss against his lips. "You are an amazing man, Rick Castle."

"I'm going to remind you that you said that the next time I do something to annoy you," he teased her.

She laughed and reached for his hands to pull him to his feet. "Come on, let's go to bed."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Present Day)

Kate held Alexis's hand as they stepped into Castle's room. The CT scan had come back negative for bleeding on the brain so they were going to take him to surgery to remove the bullet as soon as they could get him prepped.

"Dad?" Alexis said softly as they walked to the side of the bed.

Castle blinked a couple of times and then focused on her. "Alexis. Hi, honey. What are you doing here?"

Alexis glanced over her shoulder at Kate, her words of warning not preparing her for seeing her father in this state. "How are you?" she asked, her eyes taking in the bandage on his forehead as well as the bloody gauze taped across his right shoulder.

Castle blinked and then offered a smile as he noticed Kate for the first time. "Kate. Hi."

"Hello, Rick," Kate replied, knowing from her brief visit before the CT scan that he was still confused and extremely disoriented.

Castle turned his attention back to Alexis and had to blink to get his eyes to focus on her. "Hi, honey."

Kate felt the tremble in Alexis's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "They're taking you up to surgery in just a couple of minutes, Rick. "

"Surgery?" he asked.

"For your shoulder," Kate reminded him again.

Something seemed to click in his memory and Castle turned his eyes back to Kate. "You were bleeding."

Alexis turned startled eyes to Kate. "Kate?"

Kate squeezed her hand again and then reached her other hand out to hold Castle's. "I'm fine, Rick," she assured him.

Castle squeezed her fingers and then closed his eyes. "I'm just going to rest for a minute."

"You do that," Kate replied. "We'll be here when you wake up."

Alexis leaned down and pressed a kiss on her dad's cheek and then waited while Kate did the same before the two of them walked out of the room hand in hand.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Earlier That Day)

"This could get ugly, Castle," Kate warned as she pulled the car to a stop behind Ryan and Esposito. "I have a feeling that Polson isn't going to come with us quietly."

"Do you want me to wait in the car?" he asked as she turned off the ignition.

"I'm not sure I trust you not to get in trouble if I leave you out here unsupervised," she teased. "Just give me your word that you'll stay behind me and do what I say."

"Done," he agreed.

The two of them exited the car and quickly joined Ryan and Esposito. A couple of phone calls to cab companies had found the one that had picked up a fare just outside of the diner on the night of Shawn Huffman's murder. The driver had easily identified both Sherry and Polson, confirming that Polson had given him the address and paid for the ride after tucking the young girl into the car.

They'd brought Sherry in for questioning again and the young girl had broken down when confronted with the facts. It turned out that Sherry had just discovered she was pregnant and was terrified by the thought that her baby's father could have possibly murdered someone. However, since they already knew that Eric had put her in a cab alone, she told them that she suspected he had killed Shawn.

From there, they'd been able to secure a search warrant for Polson's apartment and the blood they found on the bottom of his shoes had been enough for Judge Wilson to issue an arrest warrant. Sherry had given them the address of a friend of Polson's where he often hung out and that was where they had converged.

"Teams are in place around the building," Esposito stated.

"Tell them we're going in," Kate replied.

Esposito lifted his radio and gave the signal and then fell into line behind Kate and Ryan, making sure that Castle was behind them as they entered the building. They took the stairs to the fifth floor and then slowly made their way down the hall to the correct apartment.

Kate stood to the right of the apartment door with Castle tucked securely behind her. Moving her gun to her left hand, she waited until Esposito took his position on the opposite side of the door with Ryan at his back and then she reached over and pounded on the door. "Eric Polson! Police! Open the door."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Present Time)

"Detective Beckett?" Dr. Anderson said as he entered the waiting room.

Kate looked up from where she, Alexis and Martha were keeping vigil, and noticed that Esposito and Ryan had once again found their way back to the waiting room. She recognized Dr. Anderson as the man who had initially talked with her upon their arrival at the hospital and hurriedly got to her feet. "Dr. Anderson," she acknowledged. "How is he?"

Kate noticed that Alexis and Martha had taken up residence on each side of her and she stepped back to include them in the conversation.

"Mr. Castle is an extremely lucky man," Dr. Anderson replied. "The bullet entered his shoulder at such an odd angle that it managed to miss both his humerus and his clavicle. There was some tissue damage to both the deltoid and pectoralis major, plus a considerable amount of blood loss where it nicked the suprascapular artery, but nothing that a few weeks of rehab won't cure."

For the first time since stepping into that hallway and seeing Castle unconscious and bleeding, Kate finally felt as if she could breathe again. "What about the head injury?" she asked.

"He's got a concussion, and will most likely not remember the details of what happened today, but I anticipate a complete recovery," Dr. Anderson assured them.

"Can we see him?" Alexis asked.

"As soon as he's out of recovery," Dr. Anderson replied. "Keep in mind that the disorientation could last for a couple of days though. It's not uncommon with concussions."

"Thank you, Dr. Anderson," Kate said.

"Yes, thank you," Alexis and Martha echoed.

Dr. Anderson merely nodded as he headed back out of the room.

"Want us to call the captain?" Esposito asked as he caught Kate's eye.

"Please," she replied. Then she smiled and added, "And thanks, you guys."

They both acknowledged her with a slight nod before they turned and left her alone with Alexis and Martha, knowing that she would take care of her family and they, in turn, would take care of her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Two Weeks Later)

Castle sat in his recliner with his laptop opened in front of him and several pillows propped against his side. His right arm was still secured to his body, the doctor insisting he keep it immobilized for a full three weeks before he could begin rehab. He'd been using the down time to work on his latest Nikki Heat novel, but he was starting to go stir crazy.

He heard the front door open and hoped it was Alexis returning with lunch. "I'm in the living room," he called out.

Instead of Alexis, Kate walked around the corner. Castle couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. "Hello there, beautiful."

Kate returned his smile as she made her way over to his side. "How was the doctor's visit?" she asked as she sat on the arm of the chair. She had intended to go with him, but had gotten held up at a crime scene and had to cancel. As soon as she could get away, she'd headed straight to his apartment.

"He took the stitches out of my shoulder," he told her. "He said it had healed nicely, but he wanted me to keep it immobilized for one more week."

"I guess that means our game of naked twister is going to have to be postponed?" Kate teased him as she brushed the hair off his forehead and examined the scar left by his collision with the doorframe.

He reached up and captured her hand, pulling it to his lips and planting a kiss in her palm. "I'm fine, Kate."

"I know," she replied.

"And it wasn't your fault," he stated for what had to be the hundredth time in the last two weeks.

She shrugged, not quite willing to concede that point. When they were on the job, he was her responsibility, and he'd gotten hurt on her watch. It still chafed a bit.

Castle knew the issue wasn't completely resolved yet, and would probably rear its head again when he was finally able to go back out in the field with her, but he opted to try for a little levity for now. "Look at the bright side, Kate," he told her. "At least the next time we're lying in bed comparing scars, I'll have an interesting one to tell you about."

She chuckled at that. "You don't even remember how it happened," she pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," he assured her. "I'm a writer, remember? I can come up with a new story every time you ask about it."

She shook her head and then leaned down to rest her forehead against his. "Please don't ever scare me like that again, Castle."

"I promise that I'll try not to," he stated.

She shifted and brushed her lips against his, allowing herself to linger in the taste and feel of him. When she felt his hand move to the back of her head and try to pull her closer, she forced herself away from him. "I've got to go back to work."

Castle sighed and let her go. "Will you come back later?"

She waggled her eyebrows as she slowly backed away from him. "I might even bring my nurses outfit."

"Then I promise to be on my best behavior," he said.

She stopped in her tracks and offered him a sultry smile. "That's too bad. I was rather looking forward to you being bad."

He groaned and her laughter lingered even after she turned and made her way out of the apartment with a, "See you later, Castle."

He hated not being able to spend the day with her at work, but at least he still got most of her nights. It would have to do for now.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

* * *

_I apologize for scaring you at the beginning and hope you've forgiven me enough by now to take the time to leave me a review._


	8. July

_For those of you who are still enjoying this story, this one is much more relationship-centered than previous chapters. _

* * *

"What have you done?" Kate asked as Castle opened the door leading to the roof and then stepped back to allow her to precede him.

"I thought we could watch the fireworks show from up here," he replied as he took her hand and led her over to the hammock he'd had set up that afternoon.

She had to admit that the thought of just the two of them for the evening sounded appealing. She'd grown accustomed to having him follow her around, and she honestly missed working with him. Since he was still rehabilitating his shoulder, most of his mornings were spent either working with his therapist or at the gym working on regaining his strength. He'd been spending the rest of his time working on finishing the next Nikki Heat novel since his deadline was rapidly approaching. Not only that, but she'd been so busy in the last week that she'd taken to sleeping at her own apartment for no other reason than that it was closer to the precinct.

Kate looked at the hammock and then lifted a questioning brow in his direction. "Are you sure your therapist approved you using one of these?"

He laughed at the teasing tone of her voice, but he also understood the reason for the question. The first night they'd spent together after he'd been shot had been miserable for both of them. Every movement either one of them made had jarred his shoulder and sent pain shooting through his body. As much as he had wanted to sleep with her in his arms, he'd been forced to admit that under the circumstances, it just hadn't been practical. He'd finally hauled himself out of bed and down to the recliner to allow her to get some much needed sleep.

"You don't really think I shared my plans for the evening with my therapist, do you?" he teased as he demonstrated exactly how well he was feeling by lifting his arm and draping it across her shoulders.

She smiled at his teasing and turned into his embrace to wrap her own arms around his waist. She rested her cheek against his chest and he put his other arm around her to pull her more fully into his embrace.

They stood there in silence for several minutes, merely relishing the closeness that had been missing for a number of days.

"I love you," Kate finally whispered as she pulled back to look up at him. "You know that, right?"

He nodded his head. "And I love you."

They stood there just looking at each other until Kate finally started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Castle asked.

"Just recalling the look of disbelief on Ryan's face when you told me that you loved me while you were bleeding all over me," she replied. At his look of confusion, she shook her head. "Of course you've conveniently forgotten that detail as well."

"Sadly, yes," he agreed. "I think I would very much like to have seen the look on his face."

She winked as she stepped out of his embrace and walked over to pour them both a glass of wine from the table beside the hammock. "It wasn't nearly as dumbfounded as the look on his face when I said it back to you and then kissed you."

He lifted his hand to his chest and grimaced. "And I've lost that memory? That is just wrong."

"Serves you right for getting yourself shot, Castle," she said as she carried their wine back to where he was standing.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" he asked as she stopped in front of him.

"No," she stated simply. "And if you ever do something that stupid again, I might shoot you myself for good measure."

Instead of taking one of the glasses from her, he reached both hands up and cupped her face. "I give you my word, Kate, that I will do my absolute best never to put either one of us in that position again," he promised before lowering his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.

She acknowledged his promise with a smile and nod of her head and then laughed as she watched him maneuver his way into the hammock before gracefully settling herself at his side. She wasn't naïve' enough to think that they weren't still going to have to deal with issues once he finally re-joined the team, but she now had enough distance from the incident that she thought she'd be able to manage the emotional fallout.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kate shifted her weight as Castle's right hand moved under her shirt from drawing teasing circles on the skin of her stomach up to cup her breast. "I thought you wanted to watch the fireworks show," she said as his lips trailed lazily up and down the column of her neck.

"I don't recall ever saying that," he replied as he deftly unhooked the front clasp of her bra and pushed the material as far away from her body as he could get it beneath the material of her t-shirt.

"I thought that was the whole point of setting up the hammock on the roof," she said, biting back a moan when his hand returned to her breast and pinched her nipple.

He lifted his head from her neck then and met her gaze over her shoulder. "The point of this was to be alone with you without interruptions," he explained. "I don't need the fireworks."

She turned her gaze back to the sky where another explosion turned the night sky a tapestry of red, white and blue. "I guess we generally do a pretty good job of creating our own, don't we?" she asked as she moved her hand between their bodies and rubbed the length of his erection.

"I think it's been too long since I've made you see stars," he whispered against her ear as he shifted his hips to press more firmly against her hand.

"There is no way we can do this here," she breathed as his hand trailed a fiery path down her stomach to slide beneath the waistband of her khaki shorts and inside her panties.

"We already are," he replied as he dipped a finger into her heat.

Her body reacted instantly, a flood of warmth cascading from her depths as he teased her. She groaned even as she arched her hips into his hand, desperate for more. "Bed, Castle," she stated.

"We'll get there," he assured her as he continued to stroke her.

Mustering every ounce of willpower she could, Kate moved her hand from his erection to his forearm and squeezed just hard enough for him to recognize that she was serious. "Not here, Rick."

He immediately removed his hand from her, allowing her to roll carefully from the hammock. Once she was on her feet, she reached for his hands. When he raised a questioning brow, she smiled at him. "I didn't say no, Rick. I said not here. I want to feel you surrounding me tonight, not worrying about whether we're going to fall out of the hammock if we squirm too much."

His smile stretched across his face as he got to his feet and took her hands in his, allowing her to lead them down from the roof and into the privacy of his apartment.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Nice of you to join us again, Castle," Lanie said as she looked up from the dead body she was examining.

"It's good to be back," Castle replied with a smile, having already taken much ribbing from both Ryan and Esposito about his extended "vacation."

"So what do we have?" Kate asked.

"Black male, approximately forty years of age, multiple stab wounds to the chest," Lanie replied.

"Time of death?" Kate enquired.

"He's been here at least twelve hours," Lanie replied as she carefully filled several vials with the victim's blood. "I can give you a more exact time once I get him back to the morgue."

"Thanks, Lanie."

Castle watched in silence as Kate made her way through the small apartment, her trained eye taking in details and storing them for further examination later. "Who called it in?" she finally asked when she made her way back to Ryan and Esposito.

"The super let himself in to fix a leaky faucet and found our vic in the hallway," Esposito replied.

"Do we have an i.d. on him yet?"

"No," Ryan replied as he consulted his notebook. "The apartment is rented to Sarah Croone, but according to her neighbors, she didn't have a roommate."

"Boyfriend?" Castle asked.

"We're trying to track her down to find out," Esposito confirmed.

Kate nodded and looked around the apartment once again. "Make sure CSU's dust for prints on the window off the fire escape. If our victim didn't belong here, I want to know how he got in."

"Will do," Ryan replied.

"Let's go, Castle," Kate said, turning her attention to him.

"Right behind you," he confirmed as he fell into step with her. It was good to be back in the field.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You look beat," Kate commented as she turned her attention from the white board to where Castle was sitting.

His left elbow was resting on her desk and he had his head propped up in his hand. Without even bothering to straighten himself, he lifted his eyes to hers. "There's probably a good reason I look that way."

Kate smiled even as she shook her head. "Too much action for your first day back?"

"Let's just say that the afternoon naps I've been taking for the last couple of weeks were more therapeutic than I realized," he replied.

"Go home, Castle," she said as she walked over to stand in front of him, reaching her hands down to help pull him to his feet.

Instead of taking her hands, he leaned back in the chair and looked up at her. "Are you coming with me?"

"Not yet," she replied.

"Then I'll wait," he said. She narrowed her eyes at him, but he cut off her argument before it even began. "If I leave now, you'll feel like you're disturbing me if you come by the apartment later, so you'll do the rational thing and go to your own apartment. Since I have every intention of falling asleep with you in my arms, I'll wait until you're ready to go."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're ridiculously stubborn?" she asked.

"I've heard that once or twice," he replied with a grin. "Regardless, it's been an emotional day for both of us and I, for one, know that sleep tonight is completely dependent upon having you in my bed, so I'm not taking no for an answer."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Emotional?"

He tilted his head to the side and then took both of her hands in his. "Yes, Kate. Emotional. I was jumping at every sound while we were out doing legwork, and don't think I didn't notice how many times you looked over your shoulder to make sure I was still there. Not to mention the fact that you've found numerous reasons to have your hands on me today."

Kate tried to pull away from him, but his hands held tightly to hers until she finally met his gaze. She didn't want to admit it, but he was right. As much as she'd missed having him around for the last few weeks, having him back had been an emotional struggle all day. It had been lunchtime before she'd realized how many times she'd brushed her fingers against his, or leaned into his personal space, only noticing then because the entire length of her leg had been pressed firmly against his beneath the table they were sharing with Ryan and Esposito. Even once she'd become aware of it, she'd found herself unable to stop. For some reason, she'd felt the need to assure herself that he was still okay.

"Maybe I've just gotten used to not having a shadow," she offered, the lack of challenge in her voice belying her words.

His hands gentled on hers then, giving her the option to put physical distance between them if she wanted. Instead, she tightened her own grip on his and tugged gently. "Come on, Castle. Let's go home."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She was crying.

She hated crying.

The tears were streaming down her face and she was powerless to stop them.

"It's okay," he assured her as his body filled hers. "Let it out, baby."

She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him deeper into her body, desperate to lose herself in him. The tears continued to flow unchecked, but she no longer cared. The only thing that mattered now was the two of them.

"I'm right here," he said, his voice soft as his hips rocked against hers gently, stroking the flames between them to an inferno.

They'd gotten back to his apartment and had a late dinner with Alexis and then the three of them had settled down to watch a movie together. Castle had fallen asleep shortly after the opening credits, so as soon as the movie ended, Kate had woken him and the two of them had gone to bed. She'd been surprised at how tired she was and had easily fallen asleep in Castle's arms.

At some point, her dreams had turned to nightmares and she'd relived the day Castle had been shot, his blood once again covering her hands as she struggled to keep him from bleeding to death. Only this time, his whispered "I love you" had been followed by a gasping breath that Kate knew was his last.

A firm hand on her shoulder and the sound of Castle's voice saying her name in her ear had finally woken her, but she could still feel the stickiness of his blood on her hands and smell the tangy odor of it as it rushed between her fingers. She'd immediately launched herself into his embrace, desperate to reaffirm that he was indeed still alive.

He'd tried to still her wandering hands, to calm her from the nightmare, but she was crazy with desperation. "Please, Rick. Please. I don't want to lose you."

Her whispered pleas had felt like a physical blow and he'd stopped trying to calm her with his words, instead giving her the physical connection that she was asking of him. He'd gently lowered her to her back, his lips feathering across her face as he positioned himself at her entrance.

Unbridled tears streamed down her face as he entered her, her body trembling beneath his from the fear that had refused to release her from its grip. "It's okay," he told her. "Let it out, baby. I'm right here."

His movements within her were gentle and measured, his lips kissing every inch of skin he could reach as he murmured words of love to her. Her sobs slowly subsided, the tears drying on her face as she opened herself to him. When her grip on him began to ease, he lifted his face to meet her gaze.

"You will always be safe here, Kate," he promised.

Her first instinct was to run from what he was offering her, to not allow herself to be that vulnerable with him. However, as their bodies moved together in perfect synch, she knew that this was what she had spent her entire life searching for. She had given her body to other men before, but she had never given them her heart. Not completely. Not like she had done with Rick…not like he had done with her.

"You will always be safe here as well," she replied, making the conscious decision to give herself completely to him.

"I love you, Kate," he stated.

"I love you, Rick," she replied.

He lowered his mouth to hers, the gentleness of his kiss in complete opposition to the tempest raging through their bodies. They kissed languorously as the pleasure between them continued to mount until they were flying off the precipice together.

It was much later when they finally drifted back to sleep, their bodies as intertwined as their hearts were.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kate's stomach growled as the smell of waffles drifted into the bedroom. Castle had already been showered and dressed by the time she awoke and had promised her breakfast before they had to leave for the precinct. She clipped her badge to her belt and secured her gun in its holster before grabbing her phone and heading down the stairs.

Alexis was sitting at the counter with a book propped open in front of her, and Castle was standing by the stove pulling a waffle off the iron when she joined them. "Good morning," Kate said.

"Good morning, Kate," Alexis replied as she looked up from her reading.

"Are you ready for breakfast?" Castle asked as she stopped at his side and leaned up to brush a kiss against his cheek.

"Yes," she agreed. "It smells delicious."

"It is delicious," Alexis assured her, closing the book in favor of conversation.

Kate poured herself a cup of coffee while Castle placed a waffle on a plate for her. She accepted it with a thank you and then carried it over to sit next to Alexis while Castle prepared a waffle for himself. Alexis passed the syrup as well as a bowl of fresh strawberries and Kate added a generous portion of both to her waffle.

"What are your plans for today, Alexis?" Kate asked.

"Gram is coming over later and the two of us are going to go shopping," Alexis replied as she watched Kate take her first bite.

Kate closed her eyes to savor the flavor. It had been a long time since she'd had homemade waffles, and as with most of the things he cooked, Castle's were scrumptious. When she opened her eyes again, she found both Castle and Alexis looking at her expectantly. She swallowed and then smiled at them. "Exquisite," she stated.

"I told you," Alexis said as Castle smiled and carried his own plate over to join them.

"Shopping, huh?" Kate asked. "Are you looking for something specific or just shopping?"

"Gram is looking for a dress to wear to the premiere party for her new show," Alexis replied. "It will be the first big event her and Chet have attended since they announced their engagement and she wants to get something special for the occasion."

"Sounds like a fun day then," Kate replied.

"You've obviously never been shopping with my mother," Castle commented.

"It's not that bad, Dad," Alexis argued.

Kate sat back and listened as the two of them compared stories of their shopping adventures and she couldn't help but smile. From their different perspectives, it was hard to believe they were talking about the same woman, but Kate knew from her own experience of shopping with her parents that they were probably both accurate.

After they finished their breakfast and loaded the dishwasher, Alexis stepped over and hugged Castle. "Have a good day, Dad."

"You, too," he replied with a kiss to her forehead.

Stepping out of his embrace, Alexis turned to Kate and wrapped her arms around her. "We should do this more often, Kate"

Kate readily returned the embrace, her eyes meeting Castle's over Alexis's head. "Maybe if your dad would stop dragging his feet and ask me to move in already, we could."

Alexis immediately turned back to her father, one arm still securely around Kate's waist. "Dad!"

Castle stood there astonished, his eyes darting from the accusing look in Alexis's eyes to the humor in Kate's. He finally settled his eyes on Kate's, his thoughts drifting back to the first time he'd mentioned the idea to her and her hesitation about moving too quickly. "I thought you wanted to go slow."

Kate kept her eyes locked on his, her arm resting along Alexis's shoulders as they both faced him. "I guess I've decided it's safe here."

A smile tugged at Castle's lips as he took a step towards them. "Would you like to move in with us?"

"Do you promise that there will be more homemade waffles in my future?" she asked, unable to keep the smile off her face.

He nodded. "Absolutely."

Kate tore her gaze from his and looked over at Alexis. "Are you okay with this?"

Alexis bounced up and down, her entire body shaking as she nodded her head. "Yes."

Kate turned her attention back to Castle. "Know any good movers?"

Castle quickly closed the distance between them, his arms surrounding both Alexis and Kate and pulling them against his chest. Alexis squealed her delight as they embraced, causing both Kate and Castle to laugh.

They all pulled apart when they heard the door open behind them. "Did I miss something?" Martha asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Kate is moving in," Alexis said as she stepped away from them and wrapped her arms around her grandmother.

"Congratulations, dears," Martha said, noting that her son had shifted to face her, his arm still securely wrapped around the woman he loved, and watched Kate look up at him, the smile on her face that of a woman in love.

"Thank you, Mother."

"Yes, thank you, Martha."

The four of them talked for several minutes until Kate finally glanced over at the clock. "We've got to go, Rick. Ryan and Esposito are picking Sarah Croone up from the airport this morning and I want to talk to her before she has to identify the body."

They exchanged hugs with Martha and Alexis and then stepped out of the apartment. Castle reached for her hand and pulled her to a stop before they reached the elevator. She turned to look at him, her eyebrow raised in question.

"Before we slip into professional mode, I just wanted to say that I love you," he stated.

She smiled and leaned up to kiss him. "I love you, too. Now come on, we've got a murderer to catch before we can start packing my things."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kate glanced around the cluttered bedroom, all of the boxes in various stages of packing. "We aren't getting anything accomplished," she said as she looked down at Castle with a smile.

They were in her bed, the chore of packing her clothes being pushed aside when a pillow fight progressed to an all-out lovemaking session. She was sitting up, her back against the headboard and Castle's back pressed against her chest.

He looked over his shoulder to meet her gaze as he pulled her hands from his shoulders to rest on his chest, their fingers laced together. "Do you want to have children, Kate?"

Kate blinked in surprise at the seriousness of his question. It was one of the few topics they had yet to discuss in the course of their relationship. "Do you want to have more?" she asked.

He smiled at the diversion. "I asked you first."

She looked away from him for a minute, wanting to give him an honest answer and yet not sure how her answer would affect their relationship. When she finally met his gaze, she was surprised by the tenderness in his eyes. She swallowed hard before finally voicing her response. "There are some days when I want nothing more in this world than to have a baby with you, Rick. And then there are some days when I can't imagine bringing a child into this crazy, messed up world. I mean, look at Sarah Croone. A young woman in love with a man she had every intention of marrying, only to come home from a visit with her parents to find that one of her co-workers had been so angry about being passed over for a promotion that he'd attacked and killed her fiancée'. How do you justify bringing a child into the world when that's what you see on the job every day?"

"So in an ideal world, you would like to have children of your own someday?" he asked for clarification.

She nodded her head. "I would."

He squeezed her hands in his. "You'll make a wonderful mother, Kate."

"Only if you're planning on being a father again, Rick," she replied. "I told you before…I'm a one and done kind of girl. This is it for me."

"I can already visualize how sexy you'll look carrying our baby," he said.

His words brought unexpected tears to her eyes. "Hey, what's with this?" he asked as he rolled to his side to reach up and brush the tears from her face.

"There was a time in my life when I wondered if I would ever truly be happy again," she replied.

His words were soft as his fingers trailed gently across her face. "You deserve every happiness that life has to offer, Kate."

She leaned down and brushed a kiss across his lips. "Then I want to experience each and every one of them with you at my side, Rick."

"I like the sound of that," he agreed.

"Good." She gave a gentle shove to his chest to roll him off of her. "Let's start with the joys of packing my clothes."

"We could pay someone to do this for us," he offered.

"We could," she agreed as she moved to the edge of the bed and reached down to find the clothes he had so carelessly thrown from her body when he'd moved their pillow fight to the bed.

"But we're not going to, are we?" he asked as he sat back to watch her get dressed.

She turned around to face him, enjoying the appreciative gleam in his eyes as he looked at her body. "No."

He sighed as she pulled her t-shirt back on and then bent to pull her shorts up over her hips. Once she was dressed, she gathered his clothes and tossed them to him. "Just think, Rick. The sooner we finish here, the sooner we'll be back at _our_ apartment. And we both know how much fun we can have on our first night living together."

She laughed as he quickly got to his feet and began pulling his clothes on. As she watched him open a drawer and effectively dump the contents into the box, she was quite certain that life with Richard Castle was never going to be dull.

* * *

_Thanks for taking the time to read._


	9. August

_I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out, but the characters and I disagreed on where to take this chapter. Needless to say, they won out and this is the story they wanted to tell. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to write a review for this story. They are much appreciated. This chapter is for IMW. I hope it comes close to what you were hoping to read._

* * *

Castle pulled the last chair over to the poker table and then headed into the kitchen where Kate was setting out the batch of cookies she and Alexis had baked. When he reached around her to try to steal a cookie, she slapped his hand away. "You've already had a sample, Castle. These are for our guests."

He wrapped his arms around her instead and leaned his head on her shoulder. "Are you nervous?" he asked.

She shrugged and looked over her shoulder to meet his gaze. "A little."

"There's no need to be," he assured her. "These are still our friends. And it's just a poker game."

"True," she acknowledged as she turned in his embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck. "But it's the first poker game with our friends since we moved in together."

"I think it's more because it's the first time we've hosted anything here together," he pointed out. At her slight nod, he continued, "Don't worry, Kate. I'm sure they'll probably feel more relaxed today knowing that they're visiting _our _place than they ever did when it was just mine." After a brief pause, he grinned. "And I'm quite certain we can use that to our advantage and whip the socks off of them."

She laughed then and shook her head. "You're impossible."

"Yes, but you love me anyway," he replied.

"I do," she conceded.

He waggled his eyebrows at her then. "Why, Detective Beckett, I love the sound of those two words coming from your lips."

She moved her hands to his chest to push him away, but he caught her hands in his and lowered them to her sides. "Oh no, you don't, Kate. After the 'I do,' I'm supposed to get to kiss you."

As he leaned forward, she leaned back until her back was pressed against the counter. "Playing hard to get?" he asked as he met her gaze.

She lifted her foot off the floor until her knee brushed against his crotch. "Do you really think you're in control here, Rick?" she teased him. "I could drop you in a heartbeat."

Instead of releasing her, he pressed his hips forward; rubbing against her knee and letting her feel the effect her proximity was having on him. "I have no doubt who's in control here, Kate," he replied as he moved his lips to her neck.

She tilted her head to give him better access as he trailed open mouthed kisses along the column of her throat. "As long as we're clear on that," she stated as she lowered her foot back to the floor and leaned into him.

"Crystal clear," he murmured as he released her hands, placing his on the counter beside her, effectively trapping her with his body.

"Then kiss me already," she ordered as she slid her arms around him and settled her hands on his ass, pulling him more firmly against her.

He quickly obliged; his mouth hot on hers as he teased her tongue with his. When she sighed into his mouth, he moved his hands to her waist and effortlessly lifted her onto the counter. Her legs opened in invitation and he stepped closer, the shorts she was wearing doing little to mask the heat of her. His mouth slanted over hers as he rocked his hips against hers; feeling himself harden even more at her soft moans of appreciation.

Her hands slid beneath his shirt until she felt the warmth of his skin. "We really don't have time for this," she murmured against his mouth as she broke off their kiss. "The guys are going to be here any minute now."

"Trust me, they might not say it, but they know how incredibly hot you are. They'll understand," he said as he leaned back into her.

Kate laughed and leaned her forehead against his, her hands drawing random patterns on his lower back. "Sometimes I think you confuse your imaginary world with the real one," she told him.

He leaned back until he could meet her gaze. "And sometimes I wonder how you can really not comprehend how incredibly sexy you are."

"These are our work colleagues," she reminded him as she brought her hands to his shoulders.

"And they're red blooded men," he pointed out.

The doorbell rang before she had a chance to respond. Giving him a wicked grin, she reached down and cupped his length in her hand. "I suppose I should get the door while you do something about that."

He closed his eyes as she squeezed him gently. "I know exactly what I'd like to do about it," he groaned.

"Later," she promised as she released him and hopped off the counter.

"I'm going to hold you to that," he called after her.

Kate smiled as she made her way to the door and opened it to reveal Ryan and Esposito. "Hey guys," she said by way of greeting. "Come on in."

"Nice place, Beckett," Esposito said with a knowing grin in Ryan's direction.

Beckett arched an eyebrow at him. "Don't forget that I can have you riding a desk for an entire month."

"Good to see you, too," he shot back.

They all shared a laugh, and Beckett realized that her nerves from the morning had completely dissipated. Her "boys" had been nothing but supportive of her relationship with Castle from the beginning. Their teasing had always been good-natured and in fun and she realized that she'd come to expect it from them.

"So where's our boy?" Ryan asked.

"Hiding in the kitchen, I believe," Kate replied as she closed the door.

"I'm not hiding," Castle called out, having heard their comments. "And I'm in the family room."

Kate led Ryan and Esposito into the family room and couldn't suppress her grin when she saw that Castle had chosen to hide the evidence of their earlier activities by having already claimed his seat at the poker table. "Snacks are in the kitchen," Castle said by way of greeting. "Help yourselves."

Kate watched them make their way into the kitchen, then deciding to tease Castle just a bit more, she walked behind his chair, settled her hands on his shoulders and then leaned down to whisper in his ear. "What I want to snack on isn't in the kitchen, Rick."

"You are an evil, evil woman, Kate Beckett," Castle replied.

"You started it," she reminded him.

He turned his head until their lips were just centimeters apart. "And I'm going to enjoy letting you finish it later."

Kate smiled and then closed the distance between them, her lips closing over his as she slid her hands from his shoulders down to his chest.

"Ah, look at that," Ryan said as he and Esposito walked back into the room. "Mom and dad are making out at the poker table."

"At least they're not making out _on_ the poker table," Esposito replied.

"Don't tempt me," Castle said as Kate broke off the kiss and straightened up.

"Behave yourselves," Kate said as the doorbell rang again and she headed out of the room.

Castle watched her walk away, his eyes following the sway of her hips until she disappeared from his sight. When he finally turned his attention back to Ryan and Esposito, they were both grinning at him. "What?" he asked.

"You should see the look on your face," Esposito said.

"Totally whipped," Ryan added.

"Put yourself in my shoes and tell me you would do something different than whatever made her happy," Castle pointed out.

Ryan and Esposito exchanged a look and then shrugged. "Valid point," Esposito conceded as Kate and Captain Montgomery joined them in the room and their game got underway.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Castle was seated in his customary place beside Kate's desk watching as she filled out paperwork. "Are you sure that I can't convince you to come with me," he asked.

She glanced up at him. "For two weeks?"

"The entire two weeks would be great," he replied. "But I'd be happy with just one."

"I've got to work," she said as she turned her attention back to her paperwork.

"I'd be willing to bet you've got about six weeks of vacation time sitting on the books," he said as he leaned forward in his chair. "I'm sure Captain Montgomery would let you use one to go with me."

Kate sighed as she set her pen down and leaned back in her chair to meet his gaze, not wanting to have this conversation, but realizing that she'd put it off long enough. "And what do you suppose I do while you're playing the part of the flamboyant writer?"

"Exactly what you always do," he replied. "Just be yourself."

Kate rolled her eyes and picked her pen back up. "I'm sorry, Castle, but I just don't think going with you on your book tour is a good idea."

"A week out of the city, just the two of us," he replied. "What part of that isn't a good idea?"

"The part where your days are filled with flaky bimbos wanting you to autograph their chests," she snarked, her eyes never leaving the paperwork in front of her.

"Something I haven't done since the first time you allowed me the pleasure of kissing you," he pointed out.

Kate had to concede the point. He really had stopped autographing women's chests since they'd been together. It didn't make her any more comfortable with the fact that they still asked though. For some reason, the thought of going on his book tour with him and being forced to watch as he played nice with a bunch of women who wanted nothing more than to be able to say that they had bedded Richard Castle held absolutely no appeal for her.

Turning her full attention to him, she met his gaze. "Give me more than a week's notice next time and I'll consider it."

He wanted to push the issue; to remind her that he'd been asking for over two weeks now, but Esposito chose that moment to interrupt. "We've got a body."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ryan held up the crime scene tape as Kate, Castle and Esposito walked under it, and then followed them to where Lanie was kneeling beside the body in the dirty alley.

"What do you have, Lanie?" Kate asked.

Lanie looked up at the four of them with a grimace. "White female, approximately twenty-five years of age," she began as she lifted the sheet she had draped over the body. "No identification on the body."

The four of them struggled to maintain their reactions as they saw the body. "The killer took her hands and feet?" Kate asked as she took in the grisly sight before her.

"Not to mention doing a whole lot of carving on her chest," Lanie replied.

"Not a mark on her face, though," Castle commented.

Kate looked around the area as Lanie lowered the sheet. "Not enough blood here for this to be our crime scene," she stated. "So it's obviously a dump job."

"I estimate time of death sometime between 8 p.m. and midnight," Lanie told her. "I should be able to give you more once I get her to the lab."

"Thanks, Lanie," Kate replied. Turning to Ryan and Esposito, she gave them their orders. "I want this entire area searched. See if you can find a purse or wallet, anything that might give us an i.d. on our victim. Castle and I will start knocking on doors and see if anyone recognizes her."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kate looked up from the stack of missing persons files she was sorting through. "Castle, aren't you supposed to play poker tonight?"

Castle looked up from his own stack and offered a weak smile. "Yeah, but there will be other games."

Kate shook her head. "Go on," she said. "Ryan and Esposito will be back in a few minutes to help me go through these. There's no reason for you to have to stay as well."

"I don't mind," he protested.

She smiled as she caught his gaze. "I know. And I love you for it. Now go on. I don't want to be blamed for keeping the mayor's favorite poker buddy away from their weekly game."

Castle returned her smile as he closed the file he'd been looking at. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," she replied as she picked up another file.

Castle got to his feet and walked to her side of the table. When she looked up at him again, he leaned down and kissed her gently. "I'll see you at home later."

She surprised him by reaching up and pulling him back down for a more substantial kiss. When she finally released him, she couldn't help but grin. "I liked the way that sounded," she offered by way of explanation. "Have fun."

"Try not to fall asleep here," he replied as he straightened and made his way out of the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Castle was awakened by soft lips caressing his chest. When he'd arrived home, Kate had been fast asleep, her arms wrapped around his pillow. He'd quietly stripped out of his clothes and climbed into bed with her, easing the pillow from her grasp and pulling her snugly against his side. She'd murmured something unintelligible at the interruption but had quickly resumed her peaceful slumber. He'd lain awake for quite some time, just enjoying the opportunity to look at her.

"What time is it?" he asked, his eyes still closed.

"Early," she replied as she trailed her lips up to his neck.

"How early?" he asked as he cracked one eye and looked down at her.

"Early enough that you have a choice to either go back to sleep," she said as she met his gaze. "Or not," she continued as she shifted her weight until her heat was directly over his rapidly hardening erection.

Castle groaned as he came fully awake and lifted his hands to her waist, pressing her against him. "Now seems like a good time to wake up," he commented.

She laughed softly and then leaned down to brush a kiss against his lips. "I'm going to miss waking you up while you're on your book tour," she admitted as her lips trailed along the roughness of his early morning stubble.

"It's not too late to change your mind about joining me," he assured her as his hands moved to cup her ass and he slid into her welcoming heat. "I don't leave until tomorrow and I promise that I'll make it worth your while."

"It's tempting," she admitted as she brought her lips back to his and shifted her hips to take him deeper into her.

"But still no?" he asked, his hands trailing up her back to hold her to him as he rolled them so she was tucked beneath him.

"Not this time," she said, her legs wrapping around his hips as he began to thrust into her.

"I wish you would change your mind," he stated. "But I respect your decision. I won't ask again."

"Thank you," she said as she lifted her hands to his neck, her fingers sliding up through his hair and pulling his mouth down to hers.

He kissed her, his tongue darting out and teasing hers for just a moment before he lifted his head back to look at her again. "You promise that if you change your mind about joining me you'll tell me?"

"You'll be the first to know," she assured him as she pulled him back down for another kiss.

Their conversation faded into sighs of pleasure and soft moans as they gave themselves to one another, their bodies racing towards completion and striving to ensure that they were both there together.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Any luck with identifying our victim yet?" Castle asked as he sat a fresh cup of coffee in front of Kate and then moved to his seat beside her desk.

"Packed already?" she teased him as she looked up from the stack of files on her desk.

"Plenty of time for that later," he replied with a grin. "My flight isn't until ten in the morning."

She shook her head and motioned to the files on her desk. "Nothing yet. We separated the piles into possible matches based on age and body type, but so far we've had no luck. I've got Esposito looking into the national database of missing persons. Hopefully, we'll get lucky."

"How can I help?" he offered.

"Beckett!" came Captain Montgomery's voice from across the bullpen.

Kate looked across the room at her captain and he motioned for her to join him. "Could I have a minute?"

Kate nodded as she got to her feet. "Hold that thought, Castle."

Castle watched as she stepped into Montgomery's office and closed the door behind her before turning his attention to Ryan. "Any luck with forensics?" Castle asked as he made his way over to the other detective's desk.

Ryan shook his head as he thumbed through a stack of paperwork. "Nothing unusual about the blade used to sever the victim's hands and feet," he replied. "Your typical everyday garden variety handsaw. According to the manufacturer, they sell about a million of them a year."

"So practically untraceable," Castle said.

"Lanie's trying to get a mold of the wounds in the chest for us," Ryan continued, "But she was pretty carved up, so we're not sure if we'll get anything useful from that either."

"What about her clothes?" Castle asked as he perched on the corner of the desk.

"We're still waiting on lab results on her clothes," Ryan replied.

Castle heard Montgomery's door open and he turned to face Kate. The smile on his face quickly faded as he saw the set of her jaw and the barely contained fury in her eyes.

"What the hell did you do, Castle?" Ryan whispered.

"Nothing," Castle replied.

"That doesn't look like 'nothing'," Ryan stated.

Castle's eyes followed Kate as she strode across the room to face him. "Castle, conference room. Now!"

Castle immediately got to his feet and followed her into the conference room, all the while searching his mind for what he could have possibly done to have pissed her off this much.

She waited until he was inside the room before she closed the door behind them, effectively shutting out the rest of the station. Half expecting her to slam the door, Castle jumped at the soft click that practically echoed in the stillness of the room.

"How dare you!" she accused as she stepped into his space, her face barely a breath away from his.

His confusion showed on his face. "What?"

"Don't play dumb with me," she hissed.

"I have no idea what I've supposedly done," he said as he met her gaze head-on.

"I suppose you had a good laugh at my expense this morning," she continued, her eyes blazing. "With all that bull about respecting my decision. How childish and immature can you be, Castle? Mom says no so let's see if dad will give me a different answer?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked as he reached for her hands.

She shrugged him off violently. "Don't touch me!"

He pulled away as if she'd physically slapped him. "Okay," he said softly, trying to soothe her. "Then why don't you tell me what I've done."

"Your weekly poker game with the mayor, the police commissioner and Captain Montgomery," she said.

"Which you insisted that I attend last night," he reminded her.

"I didn't expect you to ask them to order me to take a vacation so I could join you on your book tour," she said, the quietness of her voice belying the anger in it.

"What?" he asked.

"You heard me," she said. "Captain Montgomery just informed me that both the commissioner and the mayor feel that I've been working too much the last few months; that I should take some time for myself. Heck, they even suggested that I join you on your book tour, use the time for some r & r."

Castle wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. He'd mentioned that he would be out of town on a book tour for the next couple of weeks at the game the previous night as a reminder that he wouldn't be able to host on his regular week. Captain Montgomery had then asked if Kate would be joining him and he'd told him no. That was the extent of their conversation on the issue, so how it went from that to the three of them deciding to gang up on Kate and force her to join him, he had no idea.

Unfortunately, Kate's independent streak was going to make diffusing this situation more than just a little tricky. "I meant what I said this morning," he finally said, his eyes locking with hers. "I respect your decision and will not ask you again about joining me."

"But you're more than okay with having my bosses order me to go along?" she asked as she turned away from him to pace the length of the conference room. "While I'm in the middle of a case no less."

"While I might have stooped to that level to get access to you in the beginning, I would never compromise your reputation in this department by using my friendship with your bosses to my advantage in our personal relationship," he assured her.

The look of incredulity that crossed her face stung and he felt his own anger at her lack of trust starting to rise. "I merely informed them that I would be out of town for the next two weeks," he continued as he stepped into her path, forcing her to stop and meet his gaze. "It's my turn to host next week and I needed to remind them I wouldn't be available. Captain Montgomery asked if you were joining me on the tour and I merely said no. Your name was not mentioned again for the rest of the evening. In fact, I don't think the book tour was mentioned again for the rest of the evening."

"You really expect me to believe that?" she asked as she stared at him. "From the same man who has the mayor on speed dial and isn't above calling in a personal favor to get fingerprints moved to the front of the line? Is this all just a game to you, Castle?"

"Is that really what you think, Kate?"

"I don't know what to think, Castle," she replied. "You _have_ spent a good portion of the last two weeks trying to convince me to go with you. Now this morning, my captain is suggesting I take a week off to join you and that only after a night spent playing poker with you."

Castle nodded his head and reached a hand into his pocket. "Well, Detective Beckett," he said as he pulled out a small box and placed it in the palm of her hand. "I suggest you do a little more investigating before you convict the wrong suspect. Here's my sole reason for trying to convince you to come along. I suggest you might interrogate your captain a little more to find out his motivation for suggesting you join me, because whether you believe me or not, I had nothing to do with it." He watched as her eyes dropped to the box in her hand before he continued, "Now, if you'll excuse me, _Detective_, I have a trip to pack for."

Kate heard the sarcasm in his use of her title as opposed to her name and for the first time since closing the door of Captain Montgomery's office, she wondered if perhaps she hadn't jumped to conclusions without having all of the evidence in front of her. Forcing her eyes from the box in her hand, she turned her attention back to Castle, only to find that he had already slipped out of the room and was halfway across the bullpen.

She watched as he stopped at Ryan's desk and offered the younger detective a slap on the shoulder and a forced smile before he continued to the elevator. When the doors closed behind him, she looked down at the box she still held. Taking a deep breath, she lifted a trembling hand and opened the lid. She couldn't control the gasp of surprise that escaped her lips at the beautiful ring nestled in the soft velvet of the box. His insistence at pestering her to join him on the book tour made a lot more sense now. While he'd made no secret to the fact that he eventually wanted to marry her, he had yet to officially ask her. She'd assumed that he just wasn't ready to take that next step yet, but it was obvious now that he had merely been trying to ensure that they had an uninterrupted evening before he asked.

Unexpected tears filled her eyes and she closed the box, slipping it into her pocket. She replayed their conversation in her mind, and shook her head at her own ignorance. Rick Castle was quite possibly the best thing to ever happen to her and she had just accused him of being childish and immature. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Kate started for the door to the conference room, intent on finding Castle and making things right between them. She'd no sooner reached her desk then Esposito hurried around the corner. "Beckett, we got a hit on the national database."

Kate paused, torn between following Castle and the case. Closing her eyes for a brief second, she put her hand in her pocket and squeezed the box that rested there. There would be time for apologies later.

"I.d.?" she asked as she met Esposito's gaze,

"Marsha Bunn," he replied. "She went missing six months ago in Washington D.C."

"Next of kin?" she asked.

"Already contacted someone in D.C. police to notify them," he confirmed. "They should be in later this afternoon to make a positive i.d."

"I want the case file on my desk in ten minutes," she told him.

"It's digital," he stated as he handed her a printed out picture of their victim from the file. "You can pull it up on-line."

Kate pulled out her chair and settled at the computer. Finally, they had a lead they could actually use.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kate let herself into the apartment with a weary sigh. Once their victim's parents had arrived and given them a positive identification on the body, their white board had quickly filled with possible suspects. The D.C. police had suspected a former boyfriend of the abduction six months ago, but nothing had ever panned out. After a week, the trail had run cold and Marsha Bunn had unfortunately become another statistic.

Kate was surprised to find a light on in the family room, so she headed in that direction, expecting Rick to be waiting up for her. "Alexis?"

Alexis looked up from the book she was reading and offered Kate a smile. "Long day?"

Kate nodded as she stopped behind the couch. "Everything okay?"

"I was kind of hoping you could answer that question," Alexis admitted as she closed the book.

Kate pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and sighed. She'd tried calling Castle a couple of times, but had only gotten his voice mail. Frustrated, she'd resorted to sending him a text telling him that she was sorry. He'd actually responded with an "apology accepted" but that had been the extent of the conversation.

"Your dad and I had a bit of a misunderstanding this morning," Kate admitted.

"I gathered as much," Alexis replied. "Is it because he's leaving for the book tour? You know he really hates doing these things."

"He does?" Kate asked, surprised to hear that. "I guess I was under the impression that he enjoyed them."

Alexis shook her head. "Not in the least bit. So is that what you guys fought about? Him going on the tour?"

"Not exactly," Kate replied, not wanting to admit that she'd made some very inaccurate accusations against Castle earlier that day. A quick meeting with Captain Montgomery had confirmed that Castle had been completely innocent in the events that had led to him suggesting she take a week off. In fact, it turned out that Captain Montgomery had been the one to suggest to the commissioner and mayor that his best detective could probably use some r & r to keep from getting burned out. Remembering Castle mentioning the book tour, the mayor had suggested she take the time now and join Castle.

Running a hand through her hair, Kate shrugged her shoulders. "People say and do dumb things sometimes, Alexis, including me. I owe your father a huge apology."

"He probably owes you one, too," Alexis offered.

"Not this time," Kate admitted. "This one is all on me."

Alexis watched her for a long minute before she got to her feet and walked around the couch. "He loves you, you know," she said as she wrapped her arms around Kate's waist.

Kate returned the hug, thankful for the acceptance she'd found with Alexis. "I know, sweetie. I love him, too. More than I ever thought possible."

Alexis stepped from her embrace then, confident that whatever had happened would be resolved. "Good night, Kate."

"Good night, Alexis."

Kate watched as Alexis made her way upstairs and then turned off the light and followed her. She paused at their bedroom, unsure what she'd find when she opened the door. Taking a deep breath, she turned the handle and stepped into the room. There was a light on in the bathroom, casting a faint glow into the bedroom. She could easily make out Castle's suitcase that was packed and sitting just inside the door.

Her eyes drifted to the bed and she was surprised to find that Castle was sleeping peacefully, the sheet tucked haphazardly around his waist. Part of her had expected to find him on the couch or in the guest bedroom, so her relief at finding him in their bed nearly took her breath away.

She moved quietly into the room, securing her weapon and returning her mom's ring and her dad's watch to their respective places. After a quick trip into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, she turned off the light and stepped back into the bedroom. She removed her clothes, dropping them into the hamper after retrieving the ring box from her pocket. Carrying the small box with her, she made her way to their bed and sat down on the edge. She opened the box and sat it on the table beside the bed, not daring to put the ring on her finger until she'd cleared the air between them.

Kate turned and looked at Castle for a long minute before pulling back the sheet and sliding in next to him. She scooted to his side and lifted his arm to allow her to snuggle into his side. As she settled her head on his chest, she pressed her lips to his skin. "I love you, Rick."

"You too, baby," he mumbled sleepily, his arm instinctively tightening around her and pulling her more fully into his embrace.

Kate wrapped her arm around his waist and closed her eyes, uncertain what the morning would bring for them, but confident in their love for each other.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The room was still dark when Kate awoke, her legs tangled with Castle's and her head still resting on his chest. She could feel his fingers trailing gently up and down the arm she had wrapped around his midsection and she instinctively pressed her lips to his chest.

His hand stilled on her arm. "Go back to sleep," he whispered. "It's not time to be up yet."

It wasn't the first time she'd awaken to find him watching her sleep. Usually, his soft words were enough to convince her to grab a few more minutes of sleep, knowing he was content to just hold her. There was too much that needed to be said today for that though, so she shook her head and sat back to meet his gaze.

Her eyes swept over his sleep tousled hair and stopped at the intensity shining from his blue eyes. "I owe you an apology," she finally said.

"You don't owe me anything, Kate," he told her.

"I do," she argued. She paused then, the memory of the last time she'd said that phrase to him coming unbidden to mind and her eyes automatically drifting to the ring sitting on the table beside their bed.

His eyes followed her gaze, noticing for the first time that the box was sitting there, the ring still nestled within the black velvet.

Her eyes locked on his again. "There is no excuse for my behavior yesterday," she offered.

"I already told you that I accepted your apology," he said.

She tilted her head to stare at him. "You don't want an explanation?"

"Did you mean it when you said you were sorry?" he asked, one hand lifting to trail down her arm and intertwine their fingers together.

"Yes," she assured him.

"Then that's good enough for me," he said.

Kate shook her head. "I accused you of being childish and immature."

"A statement which generally describes me," he said with a grin.

"I didn't even give you the chance to explain," she continued. "I was ready to be judge, jury and executioner without even having all of the facts."

"It's hard learning to trust someone," he stated.

"I do trust you," she whispered. "And if I had stopped to think about the situation before tearing into you, I would've recognized that you wouldn't have put me in that position."

He lifted his other hand to her face and brushed her hair behind her ear. Keeping his hand on the side of her face, he tugged her forward until their faces were mere centimeters apart. "Are you finished?" he asked softly.

She shook her head and then leaned her forehead against his. "I love you, Rick."

"I love you, too," he replied. "And I'm sorry for walking out earlier."

She pulled back just enough to meet his gaze. "Apology accepted."

They sat there staring at each for a long minute, matching smiles slowly blooming across their faces. Kate was the first to break the spell, leaning forward and claiming his mouth in a scorching kiss. As her teeth nipped at his lips, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her on top of him, his hands gliding down the bare expanse of her back and pushing the sheet away from them.

As suddenly as she'd begun, she pulled away from him and got to her knees, crawling to the opposite side of the bed.

"What…?" he began, but the words died on his lips when he saw her pick up the ring box.

She looked down at the solitaire and then back at him before settling back on her heels. "You know, I expected something a little more romantic from the man who brought Derek Storm to life," she teased as she held the box out to him.

"Best laid plans," he offered as he took the box from her. "I had hoped to convince you to steal away with me for a few days so I could give you the romantic night on the town, flowers, expensive champagne - the whole nine yards."

"I don't need all of that," she said.

"You might not need it, but you deserve it," he replied.

She watched as he took the ring out of the box and cradled it between his thumb and forefinger. "I had it specially made for you," he said as he lifted his eyes back to hers. "I told them that you're often pulling latex gloves on and off and would need a setting that wouldn't get caught. I think it turned out pretty nice."

"It's beautiful," she assured him.

He looked down at the ring again and she laughed as she reached out and tilted his eyes back up to hers. "I might not need all of that other stuff, Castle, but you _are_ going to have to actually ask."

He looked around the bedroom. "Here? Like this?"

"You don't think I'm going to let you get on that plane later if you haven't put it on my finger, do you?" she replied.

"Alexis will disown me," he told her, shaking his head.

"Not when I tell her that you didn't want to wait until you got back," she countered. "She'll understand."

He looked at her for a long minute and then slid out of the bed and dropped to his knees on the floor beside her. "Kate Beckett, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

She reached a hand out and smoothed it along his jaw before leaning down to brush her lips against his. "Yes, Rick."

He returned her kiss and then pulled back and took her left hand in his. His right hand trembling slightly, he slowly slid the ring onto her finger and then planted a kiss on her knuckle.

She laughed at the gesture and then slid both of her hands around his neck and tugged him gently back onto the bed. "Make love to me, Rick."

He stretched out over her, his lips hovering over hers as his hands found hers and slowly lifted them over her head. "Are you going to be this bossy once we get married?" he teased.

"Worse," she assured him with a laugh.

"Good," he replied before finally lowering his mouth to hers. "Because you're pretty damn sexy when you're bossing me around."

"Then make it good, baby," she breathed as his lips moved to her neck. "Because it's going to be a long two weeks without you here to boss around."

His laughter breathed across her skin. "I promise that it's going to be the absolute best sex we've had since we got engaged."

Her laughter joined his. "Promise that you're going to call to keep me entertained with your sharp humor?"

"Guaranteed," he replied.

"Good," she said. "Now stop messing around and give me what I want."

His last words were a promise that echoed through the room. "As you wish."

_

* * *

_

Blatant reference to "The Princess Bride" with that last line, I couldn't help myself. Please drop me a line and let me know what you thought.


	10. September

_A huge thank you to Wolf of Sylvyr for the beta read on this. All remaining mistakes are mine. For those of you harassing me for this chapter - and you know who you are - here it is._

* * *

The sun was shining brightly through the window when Castle opened his eyes. Kate was still curled against his side, their early morning lovemaking session having ended with the two of them drifting off, wrapped around each other. He smiled as he propped himself up on an elbow to look at her. It was the last day of their vacation. Kate had surprised him by joining him for the last two days of his book tour after which the two of them had decided to spend an extra long weekend at a beach house in southern Florida.

She stirred slightly and he reached out a hand to trace along the smooth skin of her shoulder. She had acquired a nice tan in the few days they'd been here.

"It's a little unsettling how many times I wake up to find you watching me," Kate said, her eyes not even opening.

"I can't help myself," Castle replied. "You're so incredibly beautiful that I could spend all day looking at you and never grow tired of it."

"Just looking?" she teased as she finally opened her eyes and met his gaze.

His hand trailed from her shoulder down to her back, following the lines left from her swimsuit. "I'll admit that I'm rather fond of touching as well," he replied. "But even if I wasn't allowed to touch, I'd be content with watching you. You carry yourself with such confidence and grace that it's quite mesmerizing."

She smiled at his answer, certain that he was being completely honest with her. "Fortunately, I'm rather fond of you touching me as well," she admitted.

"I wondered," he said, the laughter evident in his voice. "I have noticed that you seem to have developed the idea that my body is somehow your own personal pillow."

She arched an eyebrow at his teasing. "Are you complaining?"

"Not at all," he replied as his hand continued to glide along her back. "In fact, I rather like it."

She moved then, so fast that he was on his back beneath her before he even registered that she was moving. She took his hands in hers and raised them over his head as she straddled him. Lowering her mouth to his, she paused, allowing their breaths to mingle. "I think of your body as more than just my personal pillow, Rick."

He raised his head to brush his lips against hers. "Your personal plaything?" he asked.

"Among other things," she agreed.

He lowered his head back to the pillow, not surprised when she followed, her lips claiming his once again.

She rocked against him as her mouth slanted over his, her tongue teasing his before she pulled it back into her own mouth and sucked on his lower lip. "I'm glad I decided to join you," she said as her mouth moved along his jaw.

"Me, too," he agreed as he brought his hands down to cup her face and leisurely kissed her.

Finding Marsha Bunn's killer had taken its toll on Kate, and she'd been more than ready to accept Captain Montgomery's offer of some time off when he'd presented it again. The first time she'd been suspicious that Castle had arranged the offer and had flat-out refused to even entertain the thought. By the time she'd arrested Marsha's ex-boyfriend for the murder and mutilation, she'd been ready for a break.

It shouldn't have surprised her how quickly Castle had made arrangements for her to join him, but it had. One text message from her asking if his offer still stood had resulted in a reply that included departure times for several flights leaving New York City in the following twenty-four hours. She'd quickly calculated how long it would take her to pack and then sent him a message telling him which flight to book. Less than five minutes later, she'd had her ticket confirmation in hand and was on her way to the apartment to pack her things.

When she'd arrived in Houston, Castle had met her at the airport and she'd walked willingly into his embrace, taking the comfort he offered and finally releasing the weight of the case that had burdened her since his departure. An hour later, she'd found herself agreeing to a detour through southern Florida on their way back to New York. In spite of her doubts to the contrary, she'd had a great time with Castle on the last days of his book tour…especially enjoying the shock on Paula's face when the latter had gotten a glimpse of the engagement ring. Apparently, Castle had decided to let her decide when they went public with the announcement, so other than their families and the few close friends that they'd managed to tell before Castle had left, nobody else had known.

"So how would you like to spend our last day here?" Castle asked as he lowered his hands to her back and slowly trailed them across her smooth skin.

"It's going pretty well so far," she replied as she lowered her mouth to his neck and nipped him gently. "I don't see any reason to do anything different."

He laughed as he wrapped his arms more fully around her. "I thought you didn't want to spend the entire week in bed."

"We haven't," she replied as she moved her lips down to his shoulder. "We've spent some time on the beach, some time at the pool, and if my memory serves me correctly, we've even spent a good portion of time in every room in this house."

His eyes darkened as he remembered the activities they'd been doing in each of those places. "We could try to hit every room in the house again before we leave."

Kate chuckled as she continued her journey across his chest. "I'm not sure we have enough time for that, Rick. Our flight leaves at two this afternoon."

"Guess we'd better get busy then," he challenged as he rolled them over, taking her laughter as agreement and proceeding to remind her just how much he'd missed her for the days they'd been separated.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What do we have, guys?" Kate asked as she and Castle made their way into the duplex, the phone call from Esposito diverting them from their drive into the precinct to a rundown building on the far side of town.

"First off, welcome back," Esposito began.

"Thanks," they replied in unison, causing Esposito and Ryan both to smile.

"We've missed that," Ryan commented, earning an eye roll from Beckett.

"Victim's name is Jamie Roushman," Esposito continued. "A twenty-three year old male. Single gunshot to the head and found wrapped up in a rug inside by his mother and uncle."

Kate glanced around the dingy room, taking in the dirty walls and trash cluttered floor. "Did he live alone?"

"We're not sure on that," Ryan replied. "According to the records, this half of the duplex is supposed to be uninhabited."

Kate nodded at the pile of take out containers stacked on the kitchen table. "It's obvious that someone has been living here."

"We've got uniforms talking to the neighbors trying to get more information," Esposito confirmed.

Kate stopped at the door to the bedroom where Lanie was kneeling over the body. "I want to talk to his mother and uncle when we're finished here," she informed them.

"They're already en-route to the station," Esposito confirmed.

Kate noticed the drug paraphernalia in the bedroom and turned back to Ryan and Esposito. "Why don't you two go talk to some of the on-lookers outside and see if anyone will talk drugs with you? It looks like our victim might have been involved in using, if not selling. If that's the case, I'm sure the locals were at least suspicious."

"On it," Esposito acknowledged.

Before he and Ryan left, they slapped Castle on the back. "Good to have you back, Castle."

"It's good to be back," he replied. "Did I miss any good murders?"

"The one we caught last week glowed green," Ryan teased.

Kate glanced over at them and bit back a smile. Sometimes, watching the three of them together was like being back in high school. She started to interrupt them, but Lanie spoke up first. "Let them bond for a minute, Kate. They haven't seen Castle in over three weeks."

Kate shook her head and walked further into the bedroom, blocking out the sound of their voices as she reached Lanie's side. "So what do you have for me?"

"Good to see you, too," Lanie replied with a grin.

Kate offered her a smile. "Good to see you, Lanie. I had a great time and promise that I will tell you all about it later."

"That's better," Lanie replied. She then nodded at their victim. "Single gunshot wound to the head. He was wrapped in a rug when we got here. The CSU team has already bagged it and taken it to the forensics lab. Other than that, there's nothing unusual about the body."

"Was he a user?" Kate asked.

"No obvious needle tracks," Lanie replied. "I'll have to get him back to the lab before I can give you more than that."

Kate sniffed the air, noticing the smell of chlorine bleach. "Is that bleach?"

"Either that or there's a swimming pool through the next door," Castle commented as he joined them.

Kate shook her head at him and turned her attention back to Lanie. "There was an open bottle on the counter in the kitchen," Lanie informed them.

"He obviously wasn't using it to clean," Castle noted as he looked around the cluttered bedroom, noticing several dishes that appeared to have mold growing in them.

"It's possible that our killer was trying to cover his tracks," Kate replied.

"That would be my first guess," Lanie agreed.

Kate walked around the room as Lanie finished. When she stopped, Castle nearly bumped into her.

"Sorry," he mumbled when she glared at him over her shoulder. "What are you thinking?"

Kate pointed to the closet and one of the drawers that had been left open. Castle followed the direction of her finger and smiled in recognition. "So either our victim was a cross-dresser…"

"Or he had a woman living here with him," Kate finished.

Lanie laughed from where she was overseeing the loading of the body onto a gurney. "It's good to hear you two are still finishing each other's sentences," she teased them.

Kate merely rolled her eyes, but Castle leaned over to stage whisper, "You should see what else we finish for each other."

At Kate's glare, he offered a sheepish smile and then followed her out of the room, Lanie's laughter echoing behind them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So tell me about your vacation," Lanie said as she settled into the booth across from Kate. While it was unusual for the two of them to end up alone for lunch, it was a welcome surprise today. Castle had decided to join Alexis for lunch at her school and Ryan and Esposito were having a pizza delivered to the station so they could continue to sort through their victim's financials.

Kate smiled as her thoughts drifted to the ten days alone with Castle. "First off, let me just say that being engaged to Rick Castle has its advantages," Kate began. "I've never had a flight booked so quickly in my life; and flying first class may have ruined me for all future commercial flights."

"I told you that Castle was good for you," Lanie pointed out with a wink.

"I would say that I wish I had listened to you sooner," Kate replied. "However, I'm not sure that things would have worked out quite the way they have if we hadn't taken the time to establish our friendship before we tried dating."

"I've heard that it's quite spectacular when you actually fall in love with your best friend," Lanie commented.

Kate offered her a shy smile. "When I actually stop and think about my relationship with Rick, I have to wonder if I've ever truly been in love before, Lanie."

"He's good for you," Lanie stated again.

Kate's smile widened. "He is definitely that."

"So tell me about the book tour…and Florida. Imagine my surprise when Esposito called and told me you'd extended your vacation by an entire week."

"It was Rick's idea," Kate replied. "He took one look at me in the airport in Houston and decided we needed some down time. I'm not even going to pretend that I put up much argument though. It had been a long couple of weeks with him gone."

"I saw the engagement news hit the papers shortly after you left town," Lanie said as their waitress arrived.

They paused their conversation long enough to place their orders and then Kate picked up the story. "I had no idea that Rick hadn't told Paula about the proposal. In all honesty, I'd been so engrossed in the case that I hadn't really paid that much attention to the news while he was away. It took all of about thirty seconds once we'd reached the hotel for Paula to notice the ring though. The look on her face was priceless."

"I'm still not sure if I like that woman," Lanie confided.

Kate shrugged. "She's good at what she does, so she's good for Rick's career. That doesn't mean I have plans to invite her over for dinner or anything, though."

Lanie laughed. "So after the tour was over and Castle was finished with his contractual obligations?"

"He rented a beach house in south Florida," Kate replied. "Complete with its own swimming pool _and_ a private beach."

Lanie leaned back against the booth and waved a hand in Kate's direction. "That definitely explains the tan."

"It's the first time we've really been alone together for that long," Kate said. "I have to admit that I was concerned we would end up at each other's throats."

"Didn't happen, did it?"

Kate shook her head. "No. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I found myself wanting to be near him even when we were doing simple things like making dinner or settling down for the evening to read."

Lanie's eyes took in the slight flush to Kate's cheeks as their waitress sat their drinks in front of them. Once they were alone again, Lanie smiled. "Being engaged suits you, Kate."

Kate couldn't stop her eyes from drifting to the ring on her finger. Even after three weeks, she hadn't tired of looking at it. "I think it's more like being engaged to Castle suits me," she admitted.

"That too. So have you guys set a date yet?"

"Not yet," Kate replied. "We're actually kind of waiting on Martha and Chet to decide when they're having their ceremony so we don't step on any toes."

"I would've thought that Martha would have already had that man in front of a judge and tied the knot," Lanie said.

Kate laughed. "Rick thinks she's suffering from a slight case of cold feet. I can understand that, though. She's had some bad experiences so I can see her hesitation at jumping so quickly back into it."

"So what kind of wedding do you want?" Lanie asked.

Kate shrugged her shoulders. "One that doesn't completely stress us out to the point that we start to question why we're getting married."

"Spoken as someone who has been a bridesmaid more than once," Lanie replied.

"I've been in more than one wedding where I was the one wondering why the bride and groom were doing it," Kate admitted.

"I think most weddings are done for family and friends, not for the bride and groom."

Kate's smile faded and she dropped her gaze to her water glass. Her voice was soft when she spoke again. "It would be different if my mom were here to share it with me."

Lanie reached across the table and covered Kate's hand with her own, only slightly surprised when Kate allowed the contact. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry."

Kate forced herself to shake off the sadness and turned her hand over under Lanie's. "Thanks, Lanie." There was a brief pause and then Kate smiled. "So Dr. Parish…would you do me the honor of being my maid of honor?"

Lanie's eyes widened in surprise and she let out a very girlish squeal of delight as she maneuvered out of the booth and over to Kate's side to wrap her in a tight hug. "Girlfriend, it would be my pleasure."

Kate returned the hug, and found her eyes filled with unexpected tears at the display of affection. When Lanie pulled away, Kate swiped a hand across her cheeks as she looked nervously around the restaurant. Satisfied that nobody was paying attention to the two of them, Kate smiled. "Dang, Lanie, are you trying to ruin my reputation as a tough-as-nails police detective?"

Lanie laughed as she returned to her side of the booth. "It would take a lot more than a few tears over the excitement of your wedding to do that, Kate. Trust me on this one." With a mischievous glint in her eyes, Lanie continued, "So what exactly was your boy talking about yesterday when he said I should see what else you two finish for each other?"

Heat flooded her cheeks as Kate dropped her eyes to the table. "Sorry Lanie, I never kiss and tell."

"Actually, you used to kiss and tell," Lanie reminded her. "In fact, it was after your first date with Castle, when you stopped being one to kiss and tell, that I knew that he was the one for you."

Kate had to concede the point. That first date and the kisses they'd shared had been too special to dissect the way she had every other relationship she'd been involved in. Feeling another blush warm her face, Kate nodded. "I think I was beginning to suspect the same thing at that point, Lanie."

Their food arrived then and the two of them dug in, their conversation drifting from wedding ideas to Lanie's latest love interest as the two friends enjoyed their unexpected girl time.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kate approached her desk with a smile firmly in place. Castle was in his usual seat and she allowed herself to trail her hand across his shoulders as she walked past him. He glanced up with a smile of his own. "Nice lunch?" he asked.

"Very nice," she replied as she settled at her desk. "How about you?"

"I spent it trying very hard not to think about the fact that Alexis will be graduating in a few months and how much I'm going to miss these times with her."

"Have you given any more thought to Oxford?" Kate asked as she met his gaze. Alexis had casually mentioned it a couple of times and Kate had finally sat Rick down and told him that he needed to give it serious consideration so he could be prepared when Alexis was finally ready to broach the subject with him.

"It's still too far away," Castle replied. At Kate's eye roll, he hastily continued, "But I am willing to admit that it is an excellent educational facility and Alexis could do much worse in choosing a college."

Kate smiled at that. "See, I knew you were capable of rational reasoning."

"Don't think I've abandoned my plan to offer her a bribe to stay in the States," Castle replied as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm not opposed to signing over the royalties to the next Nikki Heat novel if it would get her to stay."

"Unfortunately for you, I think you've raised Alexis better than that," Kate commented.

"Sadly, I think you're right," Castle agreed. "Maybe I can offer the same deal to you if you can convince her to stay."

That earned him a full out laugh. "I think you not only seriously over-estimate my influence on your daughter, Castle, but that you're also forgetting that I happen to agree with Alexis that Oxford would be an excellent choice."

Before he could respond, Ryan and Esposito walked over to the desk. "Beckett," Esposito said. "We've got a problem."

They turned their attention to the other two detectives. "Did you find something?" Kate asked.

"Another body," Esposito replied. "Jamie Roushman's girlfriend was just fished out of the Hudson River."

Kate's eyebrows rose at the news. She'd talked to Taylor Gaines on the phone the previous evening and had made arrangements to have her brought to the precinct that afternoon for an interview.

"Foul play?"

Esposito nodded as Ryan handed over the crime scene photos. Kate glanced at the pictures that showed the young girl's hands and feet bound together.

"It looks like she was strangled and then tossed in the water," Esposito confirmed.

"Where's the body now?" Kate asked as she looked back up at them.

"Lanie has her down in the morgue," Ryan replied. "She said she'd call as soon as she knew anything."

Kate sighed and shook her head. Taylor had seemed nervous on the phone the previous evening, but she hadn't gotten the feeling that the girl was afraid for her life. In fact, she'd seemed eager to talk to the police. Perhaps it was that eagerness that had gotten her killed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kate stepped through the door to the apartment and dropped her keys on the table before closing and locking the door behind her.

"Kate, darling, is that you?" Martha called out.

Kate's brow furrowed. She didn't recall Castle mentioning that his mother was stopping by this evening. "Yes, Martha," she called out in response as she stepped further into the apartment.

"I'm sorry for dropping by unannounced," Martha said as she stepped out of the kitchen.

"It's okay," Kate assured her, having long ago gotten used to the fact that Martha was apt to show up unexpectedly at any given moment in time. While it occasionally drove Castle up the wall, Kate merely considered it part of Martha's motherly charm.

"I brought Chinese," Martha said, indicating the takeout containers on the counter.

Kate smiled wearily. It had been a long day at the precinct and she hadn't taken the time to eat dinner on her way home, in spite of the fact that she knew Castle was taking Alexis out for dinner and it would mean having to cook when she got home. "Chinese sounds wonderful."

Martha pulled two wineglasses from the cabinet and poured them both a glass while Kate pulled plates down and sat them at the island. They worked in silence until they both settled down to eat and then Kate smiled over at her future mother-in-law. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Martha?"

"Do I need a reason, dear?"

Kate shook her head. "Not at all."

"Nevertheless, I was hoping we could discuss something while Richard and Alexis were out," Martha admitted.

Kate paused with her chopsticks halfway to her mouth. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Martha replied. "I merely wanted to discuss wedding dates and I thought it might be easier to do without Richard breathing down our necks."

Kate had to chuckle at that. In the few days that they'd been back in town, Castle had been hounding his mother to set a date for her wedding. She could understand Martha wanting to discuss it without him around.

"Have you and Chet decided when you want to have your ceremony?"

"We have finally agreed on the first Saturday in December," Martha replied. "However, if you and Richard are considering December, I am more than willing to push the date back."

Kate shook her head. "December is great, Martha. I would actually much rather plan for late spring than try to pull a wedding together in three months."

"Are you quite certain, Kate?"

"Absolutely," Kate assured her. "I'm afraid if I tried to pull off a wedding before the end of the year that I would end up on the wrong end of a murder investigation."

They shared a laugh at that and then Martha lifted her glass in a toast. "Then here's to a spring wedding for you and my son."

Kate clinked her glass against Martha's and took a drink of her wine. Sensing Martha's eyes still on her, Kate looked up and met her gaze. "Was there something else, Martha?"

Martha smiled and reached out to pat Kate's shoulder. "I don't know if I've told you this or not, but you're good for him, Kate. I knew that the day I met you and had to bail him out of jail."

Kate didn't even bother trying to pretend she didn't know what the older woman was referring to. She merely smiled.

"He's good for me, too."

"I'm looking forward to you officially becoming a part of our family."

"So am I, Martha," Kate agreed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Please tell me that you found something useful," Kate said as she turned her attention from the whiteboard to Ryan.

"A 911 call from Taylor Gaines," he said. "Esposito is keying it up in the conference room."

Kate and Castle followed Ryan into the conference room. "Let's hear it," Kate said.

Esposito started the recording and turned to watch Kate's face as the voices filled the room.

_911. What is your emergency?_

_My name is Taylor Gaines. I know who killed my boyfriend, Jamie Roushman. He's going to kill me, too._

_Where are you, ma'am?_

_I can't talk now. He's going to find me. Please, you have to tell the police._

_If you tell me where you are, I'll send a car there to pick you up._

_There's no time. He's here. Tell them it was Comptom. Please, don't let him…_

_Ma'am, are you still there? Ma'am?_

The distinctive sound of a dial tone signified the end of the call and Kate shook her head in disappointment.

"She knew she was going to get killed for talking to us." The three of them just looked at her, waiting for her to take the lead. "Start running the name Comptom," she finally said with a pointed look at Ryan and Esposito. "It could easily be a street name, so it might require us to revisit the neighbors."

"On it," they said in unison as they got up and headed out of the conference room.

"There's no way you could have possibly known, Kate," Castle said as he leaned forward in his chair and reached for her hands, completely ignoring their rules about showing affection while at work.

"I should've gone to talk to her last night," Kate replied. "I could tell she was nervous and that she wanted to talk to us."

"You did exactly what you should've done," Castle assured her. "You can't blame yourself for bad decisions that this girl made. She had the opportunity to talk to Ryan and Esposito when they questioned her at the scene and she chose not to. It is not your fault that she decided to keep the information she had to herself instead of placing it in the hands of the people who could help."

Kate looked down at their joined hands and let out a sigh. "I know you're right, but it doesn't make it any less of a tragedy."

"Agreed."

Kate took a deep breath and then squeezed his fingers before pushing to her feet. "Come on, Castle. Let's go catch a killer."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"My mother informed me this morning that she and Chet have decided to get married the first Saturday in December," Castle said from the passenger seat of Kate's police vehicle.

Kate spared a glance in his direction before turning her attention back to the building they were watching. Esposito had called one of his friends in vice and discovered that Comptom was an alias used by Derek McGill; a known drug dealer with a long list of arrests to his credit. That information and the 911 call had been enough to get a warrant for McGill's arrest and they were currently staking out both his home and his job in the hopes that he would show up.

"She actually mentioned that to me over dinner the other night."

"And you didn't tell me?" Castle asked as he turned in his seat to face her.

Kate offered him a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry. I had planned to tell you as soon as you got home from your dinner with Alexis, but you two were so animated about the movie you'd seen and then when we finally made it upstairs, well…let's just say you were more than a little bit distracting."

Castle waggled his eyebrows in her direction. "I like distracting you."

"So I've noticed," Kate replied as she forced her attention back to the building.

"Since you've had a couple of days to think about it, have you decided on a date?"

Kate darted her eyes to him for a brief minute before returning them to the building. "I thought it was something we should decide together, Castle."

"It is," he agreed. "So you tell me what day you want to do it, I'll agree, and then we'll tell everyone that we decided it together."

"Is that how it works?" Kate asked with a laugh.

"In this particular case, yes," Castle replied.

They were silent for several minutes, Kate's eyes studiously watching the building for their suspect and Castle's studiously watching Kate.

"You're staring at me again, Castle."

"I told you that I will never grow tired of watching you, Kate," he replied softly.

She grinned in spite of herself, knowing from experience that he could quite literally spend an entire stakeout just watching her.

"How about the third Saturday in April?" she finally suggested. "That should give us enough time to plan it, and it won't be so late in the year that Alexis feels like it's interfering with her graduation celebration.

"The third Saturday in April sounds wonderful," he replied.

Hearing him move behind her, Kate turned to look at him.

"What are you doing?" she asked when he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Marking it in my calendar," he replied with a grin. "Once it's there, I'm committed."

Kate reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze even as she turned her attention back to the building. A couple of minutes later, Castle broke the silence again. "Done!"

Instead of turning to look at him, Kate leaned forward in her seat to get a better look at the man who had just exited the building. Confirming that it was McGill, she picked up her radio.

"All units move in." She already had one hand on the door handle and the other on her gun when she finished speaking. "Castle…"

"Stay in the car," he finished for her. "Got it. Go. Be careful."

She offered him a quick smile even as she stepped out of the car and stepped into position directly in the path of Derek McGill. As soon as she saw Ryan and Esposito move in behind him, she lifted her weapon.

"Derek McGill, NYPD. Put your hands in the air and get on the ground."

Derek's eyes lifted to hers and she saw the panic in them before he turned and tried to make a run for it. He made it only three steps before Ryan tackled him and sent him sprawling to the ground. Kate waited until Ryan had him cuffed and read him his Miranda rights before she holstered her weapon.

Once they had their suspect secured in the car, Kate turned to Ryan and Esposito. "Nice job, guys."

"Thanks, Beckett," they replied.

"We'll meet you back at the precinct," she told them. "I'm going to hang out here and see what CSU finds when they search his apartment."

Esposito looked at the man sitting in the back of the car. "We're going to save this one for you to question."

Kate offered them a smile. "I'll be looking forward to it."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Can we go dress shopping this weekend, Kate?" Alexis asked as she piled spaghetti on her plate and then passed the bowl to Castle.

"Do you need a new dress, honey?" Castle asked.

Alexis rolled her eyes at him. "Not that kind of dress shopping, dad."

"What kind of dress shopping then?" he asked as he placed the bowl back on the table and passed the basket of bread to Kate.

"For a wedding dress," Kate informed him as their eyes met.

Castle couldn't help his smile. "Oh."

Turning her attention to Alexis, Kate smiled at her. "I would love to go dress shopping this weekend, Alexis. After dinner, why don't you call your grandmother and invite her to go with us?"

Alexis smiled at that. "We're going to have so much fun."

"What about me?" Castle asked.

"Absolutely not," Kate replied.

"Why not?" he countered.

"It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride in the wedding dress before the wedding, dad," Alexis informed him. "Besides, if you see Kate in her gown now, there's no way you'll be able to wait until April for the wedding."

"I'm already having trouble waiting until April," Castle informed them.

"Which merely proves my point," Alexis stated.

"Okay then," Castle finally agreed. "But while you ladies are out shopping, I'm inviting the guys over for poker."

Kate smiled as she looked over at him. "The boys will enjoy that. They missed you while you were gone."

Alexis changed the subject then, telling the two of them about the test she'd had that day in her biomechanics class and the kid who'd been caught cheating on it. As Kate listened intently to the animated teenager sitting across from her, she felt Rick's hand squeeze her knee beneath the table and she couldn't help but echo Martha's thoughts from earlier in the week on how happy she was to be officially becoming a member of this family.

* * *

_It has been suggested that I write a continuation of August detailing those weeks while Castle was away. I thought I'd see if there was any interest. So this is your chance to let your voices be heard._


	11. October

_Many thanks to IMW for her help with this part. And yet another blatant reference to "The Princess Bride" in this chapter. That's what happens when I'm channel surfing for background noise while I write and find that movie playing._

_AC, per your request...just in case. Have a great trip!_

* * *

Kate sat at her desk, sipping a cup of coffee and putting the finishing touches on her report for Captain Montgomery. If she managed to avoid any further interruptions, she might actually finish in time to join Castle and Alexis for dinner.

A shadow fell across her desk and she looked up, surprised to see Castle standing next to her.

"I thought you had a meeting this afternoon and then were going home to cook," she said.

He offered her a bright smile as he dropped into his customary chair.

"Something came up," he offered by way of explanation. "Check your e-mail."

Kate turned to her computer and pulled up her e-mail. As she entered her username and password, she couldn't help but note the excitement Castle was doing his best to keep under wraps. He was practically bouncing in his seat.

"What am I looking for?" she asked, turning her attention to the computer screen.

He was silent as she scanned her inbox, making her suspicious. When her eyes landed on a message from The Pierre Hotel, she looked over at him.

"What did you do?"

He smiled then, a soft smile that he usually reserved for the times when they were alone together.

"Open it."

Kate clicked on the message, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. When she'd called the hotel to inquire about the use of their ballroom for the wedding, she'd been informed that there were no openings until late July. As she quickly scanned the message, she realized that it was a confirmation of reservations for not only the ballroom, but one of their executive suites for the weekend.

"How?" she asked as she looked over at Castle.

He merely shrugged.

"I called in a favor."

She shook her head in disbelief. Amazingly enough, it still occasionally surprised her at how well connected he was.

"You didn't have to do that," she stated. "I was content with the Tribeca Rooftop."

"But it wasn't your first choice," he replied. "Since we're only doing this once, I wanted to give you your dream."

She smiled and reached over to rest her hand over his, squeezing gently.

"Thank you, Castle."

He turned his hand over, lacing their fingers together. "You're welcome."

They sat there just staring at one another until a throat being cleared brought them back to their surroundings. Pulling her hand away from his, Kate looked up to find Captain Montgomery standing in front of her desk.

"Sorry, Sir," she stated as she met his gaze.

"Relax, Beckett," he replied. "I just came out here to tell you to go home."

"I haven't finished my report yet, Sir," she replied with a quick glance at the paperwork on her desk.

"Finish it in the morning," he stated. "It's been a long week for all of us."

"I don't mind staying, Sir," Kate argued.

Captain Montgomery lowered his voice and leaned closer.

"Beckett, I appreciate your dedication, but if you don't go home, Esposito and Ryan will feel obligated to stay as well. I know this case was especially hard on the two of them, so I'm asking that for their sake, you call it a night."

Kate glanced past her captain to where her boys were still sitting at their desks, paperwork opened in front of them and somber expressions on their faces.

"Understood, Sir," she finally agreed.

Captain Montgomery turned and made his way back to his office and Kate shut down her computer.

"Ryan, Esposito," she called, causing them both to look in her direction. "Let's call it a night. We can finish the paperwork in the morning."

The fact that they didn't even question her unusual order was indication enough that it was the right decision. She waited until they both shut down their computers before turning to Castle.

"Let's go home, Castle. If dinner is up to par, I might even allow you to try to convince me that this Halloween party is a good idea."

Castle smiled as they got to their feet and followed Ryan and Esposito to the elevator.

"You know you want to do this," he said as they stepped inside the car. "It's going to be so much fun."

Kate merely shook her head. Oddly enough, she _was_ looking forward to hosting the annual Halloween party.

XOXOXOXO

"What about this one?" Alexis asked as she handed Kate the magazine she'd been perusing.

Kate looked at the picture of the wedding cake before shaking her head.

"Too many pillars," she finally replied, handing the magazine back to Alexis.

The two of them were spending their Saturday afternoon sitting on the floor in Castle's office looking through magazines for the perfect wedding cake while Castle was on the couch behind them - studiously typing away on his next best seller.

"Find one with lots of icing, Alexis," Castle suggested, his fingers never slowing down on his keyboard. "Kate loves icing."

Kate laughed at that.

"I think what your father meant to say is that _he_ loves icing," she corrected.

"That too," Castle agreed.

"I think if you'd let him, dad would be okay with serving ice cream and icing instead of having a cake," Alexis said.

Castle stopped typing and gave Kate a hopeful look.

She shook her head.

"Sorry, Rick. The logistics of keeping the ice cream frozen would be a wedding nightmare. We're sticking with cake."

Castle let out a rather dramatic sigh and then returned to his writing.

Kate motioned to Alexis to hand her the notebook they were writing their ideas down in and quickly made a note to make sure there was ice cream in their suite for after the ceremony. Alexis smiled as she read the note. As much as Kate fussed about her dad doing things that she considered extravagant and unnecessary, Kate did the same for him at every opportunity. It was one of the many things that she loved about Kate.

"Have you given any more thought to hiring a wedding planner?" Alexis asked as she continued to thumb through the magazine.

"Your father and I have discussed it," Kate replied.

Castle stopped typing again and looked over at Alexis.

"That's Beckett code for she doesn't see a need for it," he said.

"I just think it's an unnecessary expense," Kate offered in defense.

Castle raised his eyebrows in Alexis's direction, hoping that his daughter would have better luck convincing Kate than he had.

"Look at it as an insurance policy," Alexis suggested. "Something you hope you're not going to need, but for which you will be extremely grateful that you have if the need arises."

Kate shot a glare in Castle's direction, which he immediately took as his cue to return to his writing. She then softened her look before looking over at Alexis.

"Make your case, Alexis."

Alexis smiled at the opportunity.

"Okay, say you finally find the perfect cake, but they won't accept an order or payment over the phone," Alexis hypothesized. "With the hours that you are occasionally forced to keep, it could turn into a disaster trying to arrange your schedule to get to the bakery. That's where your wedding planner comes in. She goes to the bakery, places the order, and ensures all of the details."

Kate nodded slightly.

"Okay, I'll give you that point."

Alexis smiled brightly.

"Next is the flowers," she continued. "You've already said that you want fresh flowers for the ceremony, right?"

"Right."

"Well, someone is going to have to make sure the florist knows which flowers go where when they arrive at the hotel to set things up for the ceremony. You'll be busy getting yourself ready to walk down the aisle so you'll have to make arrangements with either a hotel employee or one of your friends to take care of it. However, if you had a wedding planner, the responsibility for all of those little details would automatically fall to her."

Kate's phone rang, interrupting their conversation.

"Beckett," she said by way of greeting. A brief moment later, she spoke again. "I'm on my way."

Castle looked up from his writing to meet Kate's eyes.

"We've got a body."

Castle quickly saved his work and powered down his laptop as Kate pulled on her shoes. As she made her way over to the safe to retrieve her weapon, she smiled at Alexis.

"Alexis, I'm sorry to have to cut our afternoon short, but maybe while we're out you could put together a list of wedding planners for me to check out tomorrow?"

"Really?" Alexis replied.

Kate nodded as she secured her gun in her holster.

"Yes, I think you made a pretty argument in favor of having one."

Alexis got to her feet and hugged both Kate and her dad.

"Be careful," she admonished them. "I'm going up to my room to start my search for the perfect wedding planner."

"There are leftovers in the fridge," Castle called after her. He then turned his attention to Kate. "How were her arguments any more convincing than the ones I made two days ago?"

Kate shrugged as they made their way out the door and towards the elevator.

"You never mentioned anything about having to trust a hotel employee to make sure the flowers were positioned properly."

Castle shook his head as they stepped into the elevator, knowing full well that he'd brought up the subject of flowers.

At his silence, Kate stepped over until she was directly in front of him. "Face it, Castle; I just didn't want to disappoint her."

"But you're okay with disappointing me?" he asked with a slight pout.

She grinned and then leaned up to brush her lips against his.

"It's much easier to make it up to you," she breathed against his lips as her hands came to rest on his waist.

Recognizing what she was implying, Castle arched an eyebrow.

"Then I think I'm very disappointed."

Kate laughed softly before closing the distance between their lips, not at all disappointed when he returned her kiss with enthusiasm. It wasn't until the elevator dinged their arrival in the garage that she forced herself away from his body.

"I promise I'll make it up to you later," she said with a sultry grin over her shoulder as she turned and stepped off the elevator.

"I'm going to hold you to that," he replied as he followed her.

XOXOXOXO

Esposito met Kate and Castle as they stepped beneath the crime scene tape.

"What is this place?" Castle asked as he looked around at the various rusted out machines.

"It used to be a pillow factory," Esposito replied. "Now it's just another abandoned building."

"What do we have?" Kate asked.

Esposito nodded in the direction of the body and they started heading that way.

"Female Caucasian, early twenties," he told them. "No i.d. yet. A couple of teenagers found her this morning when they snuck in the building for a little rendezvous."

"I bet that killed the mood," Castle commented as they reached the room with their victim.

Kate shot a glare in his direction before she turned her attention back to the scene. The victim was hanging on the wall, upside down, her arms parallel to the floor as if she were on an upside down cross.

"How is she attached to the wall?" Kate asked as she stepped further into the room, where Lanie was processing the body.

"It's some sort of glue," Lanie replied. "I'll get a sample to the lab as soon as possible."

"Cause of death?" Kate continued.

"It looks like someone snapped her neck," Lanie replied. "I'd estimate time of death between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m."

Kate looked around the room carefully. She noticed that there were several sets of footprints disturbing the dust on the floor as well as empty Styrofoam containers in one corner of the room.

"Esposito, make sure we get an imprint of the shoes our witnesses are wearing to use for elimination purposes," Kate said. "Then I want you and Ryan to canvass the area, see if anybody recognizes a picture of our victim. Castle and I will track down who owns this building and see if there have been any reports of vandalism in the area."

Castle watched as a frown blossomed on Kate's face as her eyes took in the scene again. When she finally turned her attention back to him, he gave her a questioning glance.

"What is it?"

She shrugged slightly even as she led him out of the room. She didn't speak until they were well out of ear shot of everyone else.

"An upside down crucifixion the week before Halloween…" she said, her voice trailing off as they reached the car.

"You're thinking a ritualistic killing?" he asked.

"Not necessarily," she replied. "I'm just thinking I don't believe in coincidences when it comes to murder. The real question is was she arranged that way because of some type of ritual or merely to make us think that and throw us off the trail of the real killer?"

After a brief pause, she opened her car door.

"Let's go track down the building's owner."

As Castle settled into the passenger seat, he smiled over at Kate.

"I know what I'm getting you for a wedding present," he commented as she fired the ignition.

She shot a quick glance in his direction before slipping the car into gear.

"What's that?" she finally asked.

"A new squad car," he replied. "I'm tired of this spring poking in my back. So my gift is going to be one of those fancy SUVs donated to the precinct for the express purpose of replacing this old beat up thing."

"You can't say stuff like that in the car," Kate said as she frowned and reached up to rub her hand along the dashboard.

"Don't listen to him," she said. "He doesn't understand the special bond you and I have."

Castle couldn't help his laughter.

"First Alexis, and now the car? Am I the only one you don't worry about disappointing?"

Without taking her eyes off the road, Kate dropped her hand to Castle's thigh and slowly slid it up until she was barely brushing his length. Hearing his sharp intake of breath, she grinned.

"Like I said, I know how to make things up to you."

When she started to pull her hand away, he grabbed it and pressed it fully against his hardening erection, rubbing their hands roughly over himself as his eyes watched her reaction.

Kate bit her lip in an effort to tamp down the groan that wanted to escape.

"Castle, we're working," she finally got out between clenched teeth.

"You started it," he reminded her even as he released her hand. "And now you're going to have to spend the rest of the day thinking about what I'm going to do to you when we get home."

In spite of the implied threat in his words, Kate smiled. It was going to be an interesting afternoon.

XOXOXOXO

In spite of an afternoon filled with lingering touches and longing glances, they had surprisingly made it through it without going at each other in the precinct. In fact, they'd even managed to engage in conversation with Alexis over dinner before she'd headed out to the movies with Paige. However, as soon as they were alone, Castle turned to Kate with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

"You were a very bad girl today," he said as he stalked towards where she was loading the dishwasher.

The look in his eyes had her blood thundering through her veins, but she merely arched an eyebrow at him.

"Are you planning on doing something about it?" she teased.

He reached her then, grabbing her around the waist and hauling her over his shoulder.

"Castle! Put me down!"

He ignored her pleas, effortlessly carrying her up the stairs even as she smacked his ass. It wasn't until they were inside their bedroom that he slowly lowered her to her feet, instantly pressing her against the bedroom door, using his body to hold her in place.

His mouth found hers as his hands went to the buttons of her blouse, expertly opening each one and then pushing the material off her shoulders. Kate shrugged completely out of it while Castle's hands moved to open the clasp of her bra. They wasted no time in adding it to the pile on the floor.

Kate reached for the hem of Castle's shirt, but he stopped her, breaking their kiss with a shake of his head as he lifted her hands above her head. She offered little resistance until she felt him secure both of them in one of his larger hands.

"Rick," she began as she squirmed against his hold.

He merely smiled as he brought his mouth back to hers, cutting off any further protest. His kiss was hard and demanding, and left her wanting more when he finally moved his lips down to her throat.

"Tell me that you love me," he breathed against her neck.

"You know I do," she replied stubbornly.

"I want to hear you say it," he said as he lowered his mouth to her nipple.

She couldn't control the gasp that escaped her when he sucked the hardened nub into his mouth, rubbing his tongue against it roughly before releasing it to give the other one equal attention. Heat pooled between her legs and she rocked her hips forward desperately.

Castle smiled against her skin even as he slid one leg between her thighs, pressing against her core, giving her the friction she needed.

Kate moaned at the contact and pressed her body further into his.

"Please, Rick."

He lifted his head to look at her then, his free hand finding the button on her jeans and opening it with ease.

"Say it, baby."

God, she loved it when he took control. It was so incredibly hot. She loved goading him, refusing to give him what he wanted until she couldn't stand it any longer. When his fingers dipped beneath her panties and slid into her heat though, she knew that the battle was already over. She'd spent the better part of the afternoon imagining his payback for her little stunt in the car and knew that there was no way she was going to be able to hold out.

She _needed_ him.

Now.

Kate leaned her head forward, searching for his lips. She kissed him as her hips rocked against his hand, feeling the wet glide of his fingers within her. When his hand stilled, she growled in frustration and leaned back to meet his eyes, giving him what he wanted.

"I love you, Rick."

The words were barely out of her mouth before his lips were on hers again, his tongue dueling with hers as his hand once again moved against her. When she tugged against his grip, he released her hands and she quickly went to work on his jeans.

As soon as they were opened, her hands were inside them, grasping his length and stroking him hard. Castle broke the kiss with a groan, his head dropping to her shoulder as he fought to keep control of his body.

"Inside me. Now," Kate said as her mouth brushed against his ear.

They separated just long enough to shrug the rest of the way out of their clothes and then his hands were beneath her thighs, lifting her effortlessly as he slid into her heat.

Kate wrapped her legs around his waist and leaned back against the door with a moan as he slowly withdrew from her before sliding back again. Recognizing his attempt at controlling himself for her sake, Kate leaned forward until her lips brushed his neck.

"Don't hold back," she whispered as she sunk her teeth into the skin of his shoulder.

Castle groaned and picked up the pace, his body slamming into hers ferociously as she clung to him. Their cries of pleasure echoed through the room as they flew over the edge together.

Their hands and lips soothed each other as they slowly regained control of their breathing. It was several minutes before Castle trusted his legs enough not to give out when he moved them from the door to the bed.

Kate laughed as he carefully deposited her on the bed and dropped down beside her.

"Remind me to tease you at work more often," she said as she draped herself across his body.

"I'm not sure I'll survive it if you do," he replied with a grin as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his side.

"We should look at the list of wedding planners Alexis put together," Kate commented as her lips trailed across his chest.

"Later," he replied as his hand found hers and laced their fingers together. "Right now, I just want to lay here and hold you."

"I suppose that would be okay, too," she agreed, shifting so she could see his face. Deciding to tease him just a bit, she added, "Or I could go down and get my handcuffs and we could do this again."

His eyes locked with hers and he waggled his eyebrows at the standing joke.

"Maybe a nap first," he suggested. "I don't know about you, but keeping my hands to myself today was somewhat exhausting."

Kate chuckled at that, knowing exactly what he was talking about. A nap sounded like a good idea. A nap in her fiancé's arms an even better one.

"I love you, Rick," she whispered as her eyes drifted shut.

"I love you, too," he replied, content to watch her until his own eyes grew heavy with drowsiness.

XOXOXOXO

"Anything new?" Castle asked as he joined Kate at the white board.

"We finally got an i.d. on our victim," she replied. "Julie Harley, twenty-two. She was a student at the New York Academy of Art. Ryan and Esposito are trying to track down her parents."

Castle glanced at the board, noting that Lanie had narrowed the time of death down to between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.

"Any luck tracing the adhesive yet?" he asked.

"We're running manufacturers to narrow the brand down, but it is definitely the same adhesive used in framing paintings."

"Which points us in the direction of Julie's school," Castle stated.

"Her roommate should be here any minute," Kate replied.

Kate moved from the board back to her desk and settled into her chair. Castle followed suit, taking his customary seat beside her desk and then leaning forward until his elbows were resting on his knees.

"Did you really hire a wedding planner to help with our Halloween party?" he asked, keeping his voice low to avoid drawing attention.

Kate grinned at him.

"No, Castle. I hired a wedding planner to help with our wedding." When Castle's eyes narrowed, she quickly finished her explanation. "I did; however, make the job contingent upon her proving her abilities by taking care of the details of our Halloween party."

"And she _agreed_?" he asked, a look of incredulity on his face.

Kate shrugged.

"Apparently, you don't realize exactly how much Lauren's services are going to cost you," she replied.

"I'm not concerned about the money," he stated. "It's just the idea of having someone else plan the details of our Halloween party."

"I was afraid that we would be too busy with this case to really give the party the attention it deserves, and it seems only fair that she prove herself capable before we entrust her with the details of our wedding," Kate explained. "When Alexis and I explained what we had in mind, Lauren jumped at the opportunity."

"And your cop radar, spidey-sense thing is comfortable with her?" he asked, earning a chuckle from Kate.

"Yes," she said with a nod of her head. "But since she's going to have access to both you and Alexis for the next few months, I ran a background check on her when I got here this morning. Her record is clean and all of her references checked out."

At that, Castle leaned forward and kissed her soundly.

"What was that for?" she asked as she glanced around the room.

"For being an overprotective mom," he replied.

Before she had a chance to respond, Ryan and Esposito walked around the corner.

"Julie's parents are on their way in to make a positive identification of the body," Ryan told them.

"And her roommate is in the interview room," Esposito added.

Kate nodded her head, but before she got to her feet, she reached over and gave Castle's hand a squeeze.

"Thank you," she said softly, refusing to give in to the emotions that his simple statement had stirred. There would be time for that later.

XOXOXOXO

It was still relatively early when Kate stepped through the door into the loft. She dropped her keys on the hall table, tucked the mail under her arm and followed the sound of laughter into the family room where she found Alexis and Lauren looking through bridal magazines. Alexis noticed her first and smiled as she waved.

"Hi, Kate."

"Hi," Kate replied, including them both in her greeting. "What are you two up to?"

"We're looking at wedding cakes," Lauren replied. "Alexis offered to show me a few of them that you had marked as possibilities."

Kate nodded.

"How's the party planning coming?" she asked.

"Everything is set for tomorrow night," Lauren replied. "I picked up yours and Mr. Castle's costumes earlier this afternoon and they are currently hanging in your closet per Mr. Castle's instructions."

Kate smiled at that. He was undoubtedly hoping to snoop to see what costumes she'd chosen.

"I'll be here at three tomorrow afternoon to oversee the decorations for the party," Lauren continued. "The food is set to arrive at five which will leave plenty of time to get it set out before the guests start arriving at six."

"It sounds like you've thought of everything," Kate commented.

"I hope so," Lauren replied. "From what you've told me of your wedding plans so far, I very much hope to be able to assist you with planning it."

Kate offered her a warm smile and then turned her attention back to Alexis. "Where's your dad?"

"In his office," Alexis replied. "He seemed a bit down when he got home. Is everything okay?"

Kate leaned over the couch and kissed Alexis on the forehead. "Rough case," she offered by way of explanation, not wanting to go into details of how Julie Harley's father had been molesting her for over fifteen years before murdering her and trying to stage it to look like a ritualistic killing. "Make sure you give him a big hug before you go to bed tonight."

"I will," Alexis agreed. "And maybe you can give him one now."

"I'll do that," Kate promised. "Why don't you order in for us tonight?"

Alexis nodded her agreement.

"Italian?" she asked.

"Sounds good," Kate replied. Turning to Lauren, she continued, "Thank you for your help. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on my fiancé.

Without waiting for a response, Kate turned and made her way into Castle's office. She found him sitting at his desk, the lights off, and the fading sunlight leaving the room mostly in shadows. She made her way across the room and dropped the mail she still carried on his desk.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she circled the desk.

He pushed his chair back slightly and she took that as her invitation to step between him and his desk. She leaned against the desk and placed one hand under his chin, forcing his eyes to meet hers.

"Talk to me."

He shook his head.

"I'm beyond words," he whispered as his tortured gaze met hers.

Hearing his admission brought tears to Kate's eyes and she did the only thing she knew to do…she opened her arms and wrapped him in them.

Castle rolled his chair forward until his face was buried in her stomach, his arms wrapped tightly around her hips. They stood there in silence for several minutes, Kate's hands soothing across his back as he breathed in her scent, each of them drawing strength from the other.

"As a father, it is unfathomable to me what this man did," Castle finally said. "It goes against every instinct ingrained in my being."

"I know," Kate replied.

Castle pulled back far enough to meet her eyes, his shining with unshed tears.

"I wanted to kill him," he admitted.

"You're not the only one," she assured him.

"I have never felt such extreme hatred for another person in my life," he said.

Kate lifted a hand to his hair and soothed her fingers through it. It had taken every ounce of willpower she possessed to keep her own emotions in check when their suspect had broken down in the interrogation room, crying that he loved his daughter and had only wanted what was best for her. She was glad she'd asked Castle to watch from the observation room when she'd heard the sound of something breaking on the other side of the mirror. In hindsight, she wished she'd asked him to sit out the entire case. She hated that it was hurting him.

"His confession will get him the death penalty," she said softly.

"He deserves worse," Castle argued.

"Life will not be easy for him in prison," she reminded him, her hand moving from his hair to the side of his face, wanting to erase the worry lines creasing his eyes.

He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.

"I'm trying to let it go," he stated.

"It's not easy," she replied.

He shook his head, pressing his face more firmly into her hand.

"Will you stay?"

"For as long as you want," she replied.

He leaned forward, once again resting his head on her stomach and she hugged him closer, content to hold him for as long as he needed.

XOXOXOXO

Kate stacked dishes in the sink, content to leave them until the morning.

"Is it safe to assume that you officially hired Lauren?" Castle asked as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"It is," she replied as she turned in his embrace. "She did a fabulous job, don't you think?"

Castle nodded his head in agreement. He was thankful that the details for the party had been placed in Lauren's hands because he was quite certain that after their most recent case, he would have chosen to cancel it if the decision had been left to him.

"You're rather sexy as a blonde," Castle said as he tugged on the wig that covered Kate's hair.

"And you are quite possibly the sexiest pirate I've ever laid eyes on," she replied as she lifted her arms around his neck.

"I have to admit that I was a bit…concerned when you told me that Lauren had gone with a theme for the party," he said as he lowered his mouth to her neck.

"You didn't think you could pull off the role of the dread pirate Roberts, my dear Westley?" she teased.

"Oh contraire, my lovely Buttercup," he replied. "It was the idea of the other guests each coming as a character in the movie that had me concerned."

"You have to admit that it was fun," she said as she tugged on the black mask that still covered his face, dropping it to the counter beside her.

"Especially Captain Montgomery in the role of Vizzini," Castle agreed as he kissed his way up to her earlobe.

She moaned as he sucked her earlobe between his teeth, gently nipping at the tender flesh. Before he could go any further, she stepped out of his embrace.

"Come on, let's finish cleaning up down here so we can go to bed and you can show me how well you wield that sword," she said as she allowed her hands to trail along his waist until they reached the scabbard that sheathed his sword.

He smiled at her teasing but allowed her to step away from him.

"I'll take the family room, you get the office," he said.

"Deal," she agreed.

Twenty minutes later, Castle surveyed the room, satisfied that it was back to its normal state. With a smile in place, he went in search of Kate.

"Are you ready to be ravaged?" he asked as he stepped into his office.

Kate looked up at him from her spot at his desk, all traces of humor gone from her face.

"What is it?" he asked as he made his way to her side.

"I decided to open the mail while I waited for you," she said as she indicated the pile in front of her. "This was in the stack."

Castle glanced down at what appeared to be yet another "Congratulations on your engagement" card only to find that the inside was filled with cut out letters taped meticulously over the usual greeting.

"_Saturday, April 16, 2011_

_The Pierre Hotel Ballroom_

_2:00 p.m._

_I'm still watching."_

"It's the time and location of our ceremony," Castle said as he read the message.

Kate lifted her eyes to his, allowing him time to process the information.

"How on earth could someone have found that out?" he asked as his eyes locked on hers. "We only confirmed it with the hotel last week."

His eyes dropped back to the card.

"Still watching?"

"Have you gotten any threatening letters recently?" Kate asked.

Castle shrugged.

"Not here. The majority of the fan mail goes to the P.O. box."

Kate dropped her own gaze back to the card before giving voice to what she'd been trying to avoid even thinking.

"I think we should treat this as a legitimate threat, Rick."

Castle let out a sigh even as he nodded his agreement.

"You're the detective," he stated. "What do we do first?"

"I'll call Captain Montgomery," she replied softly.

And with that simple statement, Castle knew that their lives were about to be turned upside down.

* * *

_Reviews would be deeply appreciated._


	12. November

_I know it's been an incredibly long time since I've updated this and I apologize for the delay. I blame it on my imagination getting hijacked by my other story. Anyway, for those of you still with me, thanks for hanging in there._

_A special thanks to IMW for her incredible work at keeping me in-line with these characters. Educate, thanks for the brainstorming. As you can see, I took your idea to heart. I hope I did it justice._

* * *

Castle and Kate sat in the conference room with piles of fan mail spread out on the table between them. Paula had arranged for the last three months' worth to be dropped off first thing that morning and they had spent the better portion of the day sorting through it, having already set aside three other suspicious letters.

"I'm really getting a weird sense of déjà vu," Castle commented as he looked over the letter he was currently reading.

Kate glanced up from her own letter and offered him a smile.

"Not quite as much tension in the room this time," she offered.

He grinned at that.

"Not to mention that this time when I'm picturing you naked, I don't have to rely solely upon my imagination."

Kate rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the letter she was reading.

"How many of these do you actually read?" she asked.

"Would you think less of me if I said I rarely had time to read any of them anymore?" he replied as he lowered his letter. "Paula pays someone to go through them now. That person separates the threatening ones from the rest, and then passes on the more interesting letters to Paula. On occasion, Paula will pass them on to me, but since most of the letters are requests for autographs or photos, it's all handled by my PR group."

She lifted her eyes back to his.

"You would write a response to every single one if you could." It was more of a statement than a question, but he answered her anyway.

"The fans are the ones who buy the books. Without them, I'd still be struggling to get by on peanut butter and crackers, so yeah, I would."

Kate couldn't help her smile.

"You're such a softie."

Castle lifted an eyebrow as a wicked smile spread across his face.

"Would you care to put that to the test, Detective?"

Before she could respond, Esposito stuck his head inside the door.

"We've got a body. Dungeon Alley."

Kate glanced at the pile of mail on the table and then met Castle's eyes.

"Are you coming or do you want to stay here and keep working on this?"

She could see the excitement on his face as he got to his feet.

"Do you really have to ask?"

Kate shook her head as she joined him and they headed out of the room together.

"Don't even think you're going to be doing any shopping while we're there this time," she teased him.

He lifted a hand to his chest, feigning hurt.

"You know I would never presume to do something like that on a trip to a crime scene." After a brief pause, he leaned closer and added, "I'll save that for our follow up visit."

Kate merely rolled her eyes as they joined Ryan and Esposito in the elevator. Seeing the look that passed between the three, she let out a soft sigh. It was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

Kate nodded at the uniformed officer tapped with providing perimeter security.

"Roberts."

"You're going to love this one, Beckett," he offered in response as he lifted the crime scene tape to let them pass.

Kate nodded in acknowledgment and led the group towards the storefront's shattered door.

"Honking Horns?" Ryan asked as they looked up at the sign above the entrance.

Esposito and Castle both shrugged and Kate ignored him completely as she surveyed the damage in what appeared to be a waiting room of sorts. There were several chairs turned on their sides and a table that had been shattered in what had obviously been quite a struggle.

They continued past a reception desk into a small office where Lanie was kneeling over a sheet-draped body.

"Hey Lanie," Kate said, alerting the M.E. to their presence. "What do we have?"

Lanie shook her head as she glanced up at her before pulling back the sheet to reveal their victim.

"Male, approximately 20-25, single gunshot wound to the chest. Most likely a .9 mm."

They all glanced down at the body, shock registering on their faces. Kate was the first to find her voice.

"A clown? In Dungeon Alley?"

"Please tell me he's one of the clown strippers," Castle stated enthusiastically, his eyes darting around the group.

Four sets of startled eyes turned his direction.

"Clown strippers?" Esposito asked. "As in men who wear tons of makeup, multi-colored clothes, oversized shoes and carry a bicycle horn with them? And then strip?"

Castle nodded his head.

"It's the latest trend…mostly popular with the female population."

"Girl, I think we just found the entertainment for your bachelorette party," Lanie quipped earning an eye roll from Kate.

"I've got my own real life clown, Lanie," she replied with a pointed glance in Castle's direction. "I don't need a pretend one."

Ryan and Esposito both smirked at that, and Castle turned to look at her with a wicked grin on his face.

"Speaking of pretending…" Castle began.

Kate cleared her throat loudly.

"Clown strippers, Castle," she said. "You were going to elaborate."

"Right," he agreed. Their eyes locked and a heated gaze passed between them before Castle finally forced his gaze away from hers. Turning back to Ryan and Esposito, he explained what he knew. "It's much like hiring a regular stripper, only they come outfitted in full clown attire. Some of them even make balloon animals as part of their routine."

"You're making that up," Ryan said.

"Actually, he isn't."

They all turned their attention to the uniformed officer who had walked up behind Kate.

"Officer Thompson," he said by way of introduction. "I was first on the scene."

Kate held out her hand.

"Detective Kate Beckett," she replied before a quick round of introductions to the rest of her team.

"Honking Horns is one of the newest establishments here in Dungeon Alley," he informed them. "They specialize in clown strippers for anything from the gag party to the seriously kinky fetish parties, and as Mr. Castle said, they do offer balloon animals as part of their routine…at an extra charge, of course."

"Of course," Lanie muttered from her spot on the floor.

"And there's a market for that?" Esposito asked.

Officer Thompson chuckled.

"Detective Esposito, there's a market for just about anything these days. Clown strippers just happen to be the newest, hottest thing."

Ryan looked over at Castle.

"And how is it that _you_ know about this?"

Castle hazarded a glance in Kate's direction before he replied.

"Research for Nikki Heat."

Kate rolled her eyes before turning her attention to Esposito.

"You guys go with Officer Thompson, get all the pertinent information and then start a canvass of the area to see if there are any witnesses. Castle and I will talk to the store owner and see if we can't get an ID on our victim."

"You got it boss," Esposito replied.

Kate waited until they were out of earshot before she turned her attention back to Castle.

"Research for Nikki Heat?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

Castle nodded as he grinned.

"It had better be for a case she's working, Castle," she informed him. "And not some sleazy fetish she's suddenly developed."

Castle's smile grew at that and he leaned closer to her.

"Trust me. I have no desire to spend even a single night on the couch," he assured her.

Kate smiled and nodded her head away from their victim.

"Come on, let's go talk to the owner."

"Best case ever," Castle whispered as they made their way through the shop and Kate couldn't help but roll her eyes.

* * *

It was early the next morning when they finally reached Daniel Robinson's next of kin to notify them of his death. His parents were completely unaware that he'd been working as a stripper, thinking that he was still tending bar on the lower east side. They had, however, given them the name of Daniel's girlfriend who Ryan and Esposito had picked up and brought into the station for questioning.

Castle had spent the better part of the day sorting through his fan mail and by the time he'd joined Kate at her desk, he'd bagged a total of five letters that he thought were from the same person. Kate had sent them down to the lab for analysis, and hoped they were able to find something useful. The last thing they needed was some obsessed fan turning into a bona fide stalker.

By the time Castle had left for the evening to have dinner with Alexis, the murder board was starting to resemble a solid timeline of Daniel Robinson's last hours. Kate added the information Daniel's girlfriend, Kierra, had given them about their lunch date and then sat back to take another look at the picture that was beginning to form.

It was some time later when a shrill ringing pierced the usual commotion of the precinct.

"Beckett," Kate said as she lifted her cell phone to her ear, her gaze still focused on the murder board in front of her.

"Kate?"

Hearing Lauren's voice on the other end of the phone immediately broke her concentration and she glanced at her watch, realizing that it was already twenty minutes after the time she was supposed to have met with her wedding coordinator.

"Lauren, I am so sorry. I completely lost track of time. Would it be okay if we rescheduled?"

"We can if you need to," Lauren agreed. "Or if you would prefer, I can pick up some food and meet you at the loft."

Kate glanced at the file on her desk and then back to the murder board. Until they got another lead, there was nothing more she could do.

"That sounds like a good idea," she said. "I'll call in an order to Cantoon Garden."

"Sounds great," Lauren replied.

"Then I'll see you at the loft in an hour," Kate told her.

After hanging up, she quickly called in her carryout order and then turned back to her desk.

"Esposito, did we get those financials back on Robinson yet?" she asked as she glanced over to where he and Ryan were still trudging through Honking Horns' client list.

"First thing in the morning," he replied. Then glancing at the clock, he quickly added, "Aren't you supposed to be gone already?"

Kate shook her head as she got to her feet.

"Thanks for the friendly reminder," she shot at him. "You're only about an hour late though."

Esposito merely shrugged.

"Call me if you find anything in the client list," Kate said as she headed towards the elevator. "I'm meeting Lauren to finalize details on the cake."

"Make sure at least half of it is chocolate," Ryan called.

Kate rolled her eyes.

"Have you actually met Castle? I'll be lucky if it isn't a chocolate cake with chocolate icing."

"Down with tradition," Esposito replied. "That's our boy!"

The elevator door closed on Kate's laughter.

* * *

"How about spending Thanksgiving in the Hamptons?" Castle asked.

Kate looked up from the paperwork she was filling out. It had been an exhausting week of wild goose chases in the seedy side of the city before they had finally found the evidence they needed to arrest Daniel Robinson's killer. It turned out that he and his roommate were two of the most popular strippers at Honking Horns. Unfortunately, it also meant that they were in competition for the best jobs. When Daniel had once again landed a high paying gig, his roommate had been jealous and decided to take matter into his own hands. Having gotten a confession that very morning, Kate wanted to make sure that all of their paperwork was in order for the prosecutor's office before calling it a day.

"I thought you wanted to spend it with your mother," she replied before turning her attention back to the file.

"We'll invite her and Chet along."

Kate felt him lean closer, but she refused to look at him. His mere presence was distracting her enough already. Before Castle, it had never bothered her to be so completely consumed by a case that she felt like she practically slept at the station. However, since moving in with him, she'd come to dislike the times when her work kept them so busy that an entire week could go by without them being able to find time for more than a few stolen kisses before falling into bed exhausted.

"Talk to Martha and Chet and I'll think about it," she offered. "Just don't expect me to cook some gourmet meal by myself. I expect that you'll be handling at least the dessert menu."

"Agreed," he replied. Then lowering his voice, he continued, "But keep in mind that I'll be serving a special dessert for you in the hot tub."

Kate closed her eyes and bit her lip in an effort to keep herself from growling at him. When she finally turned to look at him, he was leaning back in his chair, a smug grin firmly on his face.

Narrowing her eyes, Kate leaned across her desk, fully intending to retaliate.

"Beckett!"

Kate's head shot up at the sound of Captain Montgomery's voice.

"Sir?"

"Could I see you and Castle in my office for a minute?"

The two of them wasted no time in making their way across the room. Once they were inside Montgomery's office, he closed the door.

"Have we made any progress on this stalker?" he asked.

"Sir, I'm not ready to label him a stalker," Kate replied. "Deranged and obsessed, yes, but I don't think he's actually crossed the line to stalking yet."

"For the sake of our conversations, I think stalker is a safe title," Montgomery stated. "So where are we?"

"Forensics confirmed that the five previous letters were a match to the one sent to the loft," Kate informed him. "The paper was your run of the mill, available at any office supply store paper. The glue on the letters used to write the messages was Elmer's glue stick. And the letters themselves appear to have come from the covers of Castle's books."

"What about prints?"

"My agent and her assistant who opens the fan mail both gave samples to use for exclusion," Castle replied. "Outside of theirs, there were no prints on the actual letters. The envelopes had several sets of prints, but they've all been confirmed in the national database as being postal workers."

"And outside of our regular mail carrier, none of the envelopes had the same prints on them," Kate elaborated. "So he's obviously mailing them from different places in the city."

"So we basically have nothing?" Montgomery asked.

"To some extent, yes," Kate agreed.

"You know that I don't like the idea of sitting back and waiting for him to escalate."

"Neither do we, Sir," Kate replied. "But at the moment we have nothing else to go on."

"I've already informed Alexis' school as well as the security detail in our building," Castle stated. "At the moment, being vigilant is about all we can do."

"I talked with the commissioner and the mayor this morning," Montgomery stated. "They want to be kept in the loop with this. The last thing any of us want is another Scott Dunn on our hands."

"Understood, Sir," Kate replied.

"I get that you're not ready to label him a stalker yet, but I expect you two to be smart about this. I don't care if you think you're being over-sensitive; if something feels off, let's check it out. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Sir," Kate replied.

When Montgomery turned to face Castle with a raised brow, Castle smiled.

"Yes, Sir," he stated, echoing Kate's response.

"Okay then," Montgomery replied. "Get out of here."

As the two made their way back to Kate's desk, Castle looked at his watch.

"You know, if we leave now, we have time to go home and change and still make our reservations."

Kate glanced at the paperwork sitting on her desk and then back at Castle.

"You promise to order me chocolate cake for dessert?"

"Absolutely," he agreed.

Kate closed the file and reached for her coat.

"Then let's go."

Castle helped her into her coat before grabbing his own and sliding into it as he followed her to the elevator, thankful that they were finally going to have an evening to themselves. Between the murder investigation and wedding plans, it had been a very long week and he had every intention of making up for it.

* * *

Several hours later, a cab pulled up outside of the loft and Castle exited first, holding out his hand to help Kate before tossing a few bills up to the driver. Hand-in-hand, the two hurried towards the entrance, hoping to avoid getting caught in what was sure to be a downpour.

"Thanks, Frank," Castle told his doorman as he held open the door for them. They had just made it into the shelter of the lobby when the sky opened up.

"You're welcome, Mr. Castle," Frank replied. "It looks like it's going to be a nasty one tonight."

As if to drive the point home, a streak of lightning lit up the sky behind them, followed shortly by a clap of thunder.

"That it does," Castle agreed.

"Have a nice evening," Frank said as they made their way to the elevator.

"You too," Castle replied, wrapping his arm around Kate's shoulders and pulling her against his side as they stepped into the elevator.

"Can you make this thing go any faster?" Kate asked once the doors had finally closed and the elevator began its ascent.

Castle chuckled.

"Unfortunately, no."

"You have got to be freaking kidding me!" Kate growled as the lights flickered off and the elevator ground to a halt.

The clap of thunder that sounded overhead made it feel as if the building shook as Mother Nature poured out her wrath on the city.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say the power is out," Castle offered.

"You think, Sherlock?" Kate asked, the snark more than evident in her tone.

In the darkness of the elevator, Castle didn't even bother to hide his grin. Instead, he leaned into her, bending until his lips found the smooth skin of her neck, trailing down until he hit the material of her coat before reversing his course.

"Is there a problem, Detective?" he asked softly. "Surely you're not afraid of the dark."

"Castle…"

He laughed softly, his breath causing goose bumps to rise on her flesh.

"I think maybe you're anxious for an entirely different reason," he continued as his hands slid around her waist, undoing the buttons on her coat and slipping inside to caress her abdomen. "Perhaps you're rethinking being such a tease at dinner?"

Kate tilted her head back towards his lips, silently asking for more contact.

"I wasn't being a tease," she replied as she shifted in his embrace to lean against his chest. "Teasing implies that I had no intentions of following through. Believe me, I have every intention of following through…just as soon as we get out of this _damn_ elevator."

Keeping one arm locked around her waist, Castle maneuvered them until he could reach the emergency phone on the elevator call panel. It was answered immediately and Castle smiled when he recognized the voice on the other end.

"Hey Dave, it's Rick Castle. Kate and I are in the elevator and we appear to be stuck." He listened for a moment before he continued, "Okay, thank you."

He returned the phone to its compartment and then slid his arm back around Kate's waist, lowering his chin to rest on her shoulder.

"The power is out for the entire block," he relayed. "It looks like lightning struck a transformer. They're working to get a generator hooked up to get us out of here, but it's probably going to be at least an hour."

"An hour?" she whined.

Castle chuckled as his lips moved along her neck, knowing full well that her frustration had nothing to do with the small detail of being stuck in the elevator, but rather everything to do with not being inside their apartment where she could follow through with the flirting she'd tortured him with during dinner.

"What about this situation is humorous exactly?" Kate asked, turning her head slightly, barely able to make out his features in the darkness that enveloped them.

In response, Castle slid his hands up the satiny fabric of her dress until he cupped her breasts.

"It's the fact that you're so incredibly turned on that you can't wait to have me," he replied, moving his thumbs roughly over her hardened nipples.

Kate groaned at the contact, the softness of the dress against her sensitized skin making her ache.

"God, Rick."

He pressed his hips forward, the layers of material between them doing little to hide his erection.

"Isn't this what you were after tonight?" He breathed into her ear as he continued to tease her. "Your foot sliding up my leg while I ordered dinner; your toes brushing against me during dessert while you leaned forward to steal a bite of my chocolate cake, making sure I got a good look down the front of your dress in the process? And then in the cab when your hand was sliding up and down my thigh – your fingers brushing against me on every stroke. You wanted me to be so crazy for you that by the time we reached the elevator, I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of you, didn't you?"

"Yes," she admitted on a whisper as her hands moved to cover his, increasing the pressure against her breasts.

"What you were planning, Kate?" he asked, his voice growing husky at her confession.

She shifted slightly, pressing against him more firmly as she arched into his hands.

"I wanted you so wild that we barely made it in the door," she answered. "I wanted to make sure that you weren't thinking about anything except getting me out of this dress and burying yourself inside me."

He moved his lips to her neck, sucking hard on the smooth skin beneath her ear as he lowered one hand to her leg, his fingers trailing up and under the material of her dress.

"Tell me," he ordered as he slid his fingers along the crease of her thigh until he found her panties, already damp with her arousal. Pushing the material aside, he dipped the tip of his finger into her heat, groaning as she whimpered at the contact.

"The two of us pressed against the front door," she replied breathlessly. "Your hands pulling the top of my dress down until you could get your mouth on my breasts. My hands undoing your pants and pushing them down while you raised my skirt and lifted me, filling me on that first stroke, not even pausing before sliding out, teasing me until neither of us could stand it any longer."

He turned her in his arms, moving her until her back was pressed against the elevator wall as his lips claimed hers.

His hands moved to her shoulders, quickly divesting her of her coat, leaving it in a pool at their feet. In an instant, his hands were back, tugging on the material of her dress, pulling it off of one shoulder as he lowered his mouth to her exposed breast.

"Rick…" she gasped as her hands pushed his coat from his shoulders. "We can't…the cameras."

Castle lifted his head to catch her eye, frustrated by the lack of light keeping him from seeing her reaction, but pressing his hips further into her in the process, nonetheless.

"No cameras," he told her, his hands once again cupping her breasts. "Just you and me, Kate."

She couldn't hold back the moan as he fondled her, her eyes sliding shut as pleasure coursed through her body.

"You sure?" she asked, her hands already working on the buttons of his shirt, desperate to feel his skin against hers.

"The storm…" His voice trailed off when her hands made contact with his chest, her fingernails scratching slightly as she moved quickly down to his belt.

She made quick work of the buckle before her fingers expertly undid the button and zipper on his pants and then dipped inside to stroke his length.

"God, Kate," he gasped. "You're killing me."

She gave a soft laugh as her fingers curled around him, stroking him firmly, causing his hips to thrust against her of their own volition. She continued to experiment with various pressures, bringing him close and then easing him back. When he growled in frustration, Kate seized the opportunity to turn the tables on him.

"Tell me," she murmured wickedly. "Tell me what you need."

"I think you know what I need," he replied, hips jerking against her caress; his hands finding purchase on the wall beside her.

"I have an idea," she admitted. "But I want to hear it from you."

With that, she brought her lips to his neck, biting him roughly, not caring that she was going to leave a mark. It was the perfect mix of pleasure and pain, exactly how she knew he liked it. His response didn't disappoint as he leaned closer, bringing his mouth to her ear, whispering all of the things he wanted to do to her.

Kate groaned at the images his words conjured in her mind; her hands losing their rhythm on him. Castle wasted no time in using her pause to his advantage. He covered her hands with his, lifting them to rest on his shoulders as he pressed his hips against hers. His lips covered her own as he found the hem of her skirt, pushing it up around her waist. He then slid a hand down to lift one of her legs, bringing it up to wrap around his waist, the change in position placing him directly at her core.

They broke their kiss on a gasp, both of them struggling to catch their breath; a thin scrap of wet lace the only thing separating their bodies. Castle pulled back only slightly as he lowered his hands to her hips and grabbed the material, pulling roughly; the sound of fabric ripping echoing in the silence around them.

Kate dropped her head back against the wall on a moan, her hands trailing down and pushing his clothes further off his hips as he once again thrust against her. He continued to tease her, sliding along her but making no effort to enter her. It wasn't until her nails dug into his ass and she lifted her head in an effort to see him that he spoke.

"Tell me, Kate."

She brought her lips to his ear, sucking the lobe into her mouth and biting gently before she released him. Knowing exactly what it would do to him, she breathed the next words into his ear.

"Fuck me."

She felt the expected shudder run through his body and then he was inside of her, his hips slamming into hers at a vicious pace. Kate wrapped her arms around his shoulders, clinging tightly to him as she met him thrust for thrust, her body rapidly approaching climax.

Castle buried his face in the crook of her neck, alternately biting and sucking at her pulse point, feeling it throb beneath his lips as they continued to move together.

"So close," Kate whispered as she once again leaned her head back against the wall.

Unsure how much longer he was going to be able to hold out, Castle shifted slightly, moving his lips to her breast, sucking her nipple into his mouth and closing his teeth around it, applying just enough pressure to have her squirming in his arms. Kate responded instantly, bringing one hand to the back of his head, holding him against her as the slight sting sent her spiraling out of control, his name a mere gasp on her lips as pleasure coursed their her body.

Feeling her contract around him, Castle let himself go, thrusting erratically until he joined her in that sweet release.

They came back to themselves slowly, hands and lips caressing as they struggled to catch their breath; their hear rates slowly returning to normal.

"God, that was amazing," Castle whispered as he trailed his lips up her neck.

Kate chuckled slightly.

"You know, for a best-selling author, you often have quite the knack for understatements," she teased him.

He pulled back to look at her, one hand gently caressing her cheek.

"It's your fault," he stated. "Sometimes, you make me forget my own name."

She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his in a sweet kiss before placing her hands on his chest and pressing lightly, forcing him to take a step back.

"Come on, get dressed before the guys downstairs get this thing moving again and I'm forced to arrest us both for public indecency."

Castle laughed and released her, stepping back to put his clothes back in order.

It wasn't until they were both once again presentable and sitting shoulder to shoulder on the floor of the elevator that Kate spoke again.

"I cannot believe that we just had sex in a public elevator."

Castle chuckled softly and leaned over to rest his head against hers.

"I liked it."

It was Kate's turn to laugh at that.

"Clearly."

The two sat in silence, sharing soft kisses until the emergency phone on the call panel rang. Disengaging himself from Kate's arms, Castle crawled over to answer it.

After a brief conversation with Dave, Castle returned the phone to its cradle and made his way back to Kate. Instead of returning to her side though, he stretched out beside her, choosing to rest his head on her lap. One of her hands instinctively moved to his hair as the other moved to his chest.

Castle brought one hand up to intertwine with hers on his chest as he relayed the information from Dave.

"Another fifteen minutes on the generator," he told her. "Although the power company is saying it's probably going to be tomorrow before they get power restored."

"Nice," she replied.

The silence stretched comfortably between them until Castle spoke again.

"So have you given any more thought to spending Thanksgiving in the Hamptons?"

"Are you sure that Martha and Chet are on board?" she asked. "I don't want them to feel obligated to join us if they have other things they would rather be doing."

"Mother was ecstatic about the possibility," he assured her. "I think the stress of last minute wedding details is finally getting to her and she's looking forward to a few days to get away from everything."

Kate chuckled, having already begun to feel the pressures of planning a wedding herself and understanding that desire.

"Then Thanksgiving in the Hamptons sounds like a wonderful idea," she finally agreed.

Although she couldn't see his features in the darkness, Kate could clearly hear the smile in Castle's response.

"I'll call Bernice first thing in the morning and tell her we're coming so she can get the house stocked and ready for us."

Having met Bernice on their first trip to the Hamptons, Kate knew the elderly woman would be thrilled at the prospect of opening the house and making sure it was well stocked with everything they would need for Thanksgiving dinner. A long-time resident of the area, she'd informed Kate that Castle had charmed her from his very first visit as a young boy. She'd volunteered to open the house for him when his public image made it hard for him to move about in town without a throng of people following him. Castle had liked the idea so much that he'd made it a business arrangement and the two had formed quite a friendship over the years.

Quite certain that Castle was feeling pleased with himself for the opportunity to brighten the woman's day, Kate gave his hand a squeeze.

"You do that, Rick." After only a brief pause, she added, "But I get to tell Alexis."

Castle chuckled.

"I no longer have any doubts that the only reason you're marrying me is for my daughter," he teased her.

Kate leaned down and brushed her lips against his.

"That's not the _only_ reason," she assured him.

"Don't tell me," he replied. "It's also for my rapier wit?"

"No." She patted his chest affectionately before continuing. "I can honestly say that it has absolutely nothing to do with your rapier wit, nor with the fact that you bring me coffee on a daily basis. It does, however, have everything to do with that black AmEx card you keep in the safe."

"Ouch!" Castle replied in mock outrage. "That's it?"

"Well…" she replied, the smile more than evident in her voice. "There may be one other thing."

"Which is?"

Kate paused for only a beat.

"You also have a really nice ass."

Castle laughed softly at that before deciding to tease her a bit more.

"Funny, I don't really think that's the part of my anatomy you spend the most time focused on."

If he'd been able to make out her expression in the dark, Castle would have seen the wicked smile that flashed across her face before her hand unerringly found him, cupping him possessively. As it was, she caught him by surprise, eliciting a growl as he arched his hips into her hand.

Kate chuckled as she moved her hand, sliding it firmly along his length.

"How much longer do you suppose we have?" she asked, her voice slightly husky.

Before he could respond, the elevator lurched and began a slow descent.

"I guess that answers that question," Castle offered as she removed her hand.

By the time the doors opened, they were both standing, their overcoats draped over Castle's arm.

Dave greeted them, a bright torchlight in his hand.

"So sorry that it took so long to get you out of there, Mr. Castle."

Castle shrugged off his apology as they stepped out of the elevator.

"Nothing you could do about it, Dave. Besides, Kate and I found plenty of ways to entertain ourselves."

Kate whacked him playfully on the chest for that comment as Dave offered him an extra torchlight.

"I've already had my guys do an extra sweep of your floor. Everything appears to be quiet."

"Thank you," Kate replied as Castle accepted the torchlight and turned it on. "Please don't hesitate to call us if anything happens during the blackout that you think we need to know about."

"Will do, Detective Beckett," Dave assured her. "You enjoy the rest of your evening."

Castle reached for Kate's hand and they had almost reached the stairwell when Dave called out to them.

"Mr. Castle? It appears as if you might have left something behind."

They turned and headed back to the elevator, sharing a confused look at the grin Dave was struggling to hide. When Castle shined his light on the torn scrap of lace that had once been Kate's panties, the source of Dave's amusement became clear.

Kate was immensely glad for the darkness as she felt heat flood her face.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Castle picked up the material and tucked it into his jacket pocket.

"Twenty dollars a pop and worth every penny," Castle said with a wink in Dave's direction.

Dave wisely kept any comments to himself.

It wasn't until they were safely inside the stairwell that Kate punched Castle in the arm.

"What was that for?" he asked as he rubbed the spot.

"For seducing me in the elevator," Kate replied. After a brief pause, she continued. "You'd better give Dave one hell of a holiday tip this year, Castle, because I do _not_ want this story spread all over town."

Instead of pointing out that she was as much to blame as he was, Castle merely chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they slowly made their way to their floor.

* * *

"Sorry about that," Kate said as she tucked her cell phone back in her pocket and returned to the table. It was the Friday before Thanksgiving and the group had congregated at the loft to celebrate the successful close of another case and to enjoy a friendly game of poker.

"Is everything okay?" Esposito asked as Ryan began to deal the next hand.

Kate nodded and while Castle could tell that something was bothering her, he knew that now wasn't the time to push. Instead, he locked his gaze with her, a silent conversation taking place as she assured him everything was fine.

"Lauren just wanted to confirm our availability for tomorrow afternoon," Kate informed them. "We're meeting with the caterer to finalize the menu."

"My favorite part," Castle chimed in. "Lots of sampling to be done."

"Yeah, we heard about your cake sampling," Ryan said.

Castle held up his hands in a defensive gesture.

"I was merely doing my job to ensure that our guests have the highest quality cake at our reception."

They all laughed, recalling Kate's story of how Castle had insisted on trying every single flavor the bakery offered for wedding cakes before shrugging and telling Lauren to make sure half of the cake was vanilla and half was chocolate.

The conversation remained light and teasing as they played several more hands, Kate winning twice as many as any of the men around the table. It was quite some time later when the apartment phone rang, causing both Kate and Castle to lift their heads.

"Are you going to get that?" Esposito asked as he watched the two of them just look at each other before turning their attention back to the game.

Kate shook her head.

"The machine will pick up."

Captain Montgomery paused in his dealing of the cards; the entire group aware of the sudden tension in the room.

"Beckett?"

Kate sighed and looked up to meet his gaze.

"The phone calls started yesterday," she informed him.

"The stalker?"

"Hang ups," she clarified. "But more than likely, yes."

"Anything else?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "We haven't heard anything since that first letter."

"I'll get a tap put on the phone line," Montgomery said as he got to his feet, his cell phone already in hand. "Maybe we'll get lucky."

Once he returned to the table, he picked up the deck of cards and resumed dealing.

"They'll have the wiretap set up in a couple of hours," he informed them. "Once that's done, answer the phone and see if you can engage him."

"Yes, Sir."

"When are you guys leaving for the Hamptons?" Montgomery asked.

"Wednesday afternoon," Castle replied. "We're picking Alexis up from school and heading out from there."

"Have you given any thoughts to security?"

Castle nodded.

"I've already made arrangements with a group I've used before. They'll sweep the grounds before we arrive and there will be a team on site while we're there."

Montgomery met Beckett's gaze.

"I'll put in a call first thing Monday morning and let the locals know the situation, just to be on the safe side."

"Thank you, Sir."

There was silence around the table for several minutes as the light-heartedness of earlier was dampened by the reality of the threat that remained. It was Castle who finally broke it.

"Wow, talk about a mood killer," he stated. "Maybe I should break out the hard liquor and entertain you guys with stories of Kate arguing with Lauren over the font size to be used on the place cards at the reception."

Ryan and Esposito both turned their attention to Kate.

"Seriously?" Esposito asked. "You argued over font size?"

It had the desired effect. Soon the boys' teasing her over something so "girly" had the entire group relaxed and laughing again. By the time they called it a night, the cheerfulness had returned and thoughts of their possible stalker had once again been pushed to the back of their minds.

It was much later when Kate and Castle were lying in bed before either one of them mentioned it again.

"Are you concerned about this?" Castle asked, one hand stroking gently through her hair.

"A little," she admitted

"Do we need to cancel our trip to the Hamptons?"

Kate lifted her head from his chest to meet his eyes.

"No, I don't think so. Other than a few letters and a couple of days of suspicious phone calls, there is nothing that says this person is dangerous."

"At least not yet," Castle added. "And that's the part that has you concerned."

Kate nodded.

"I don't like the feeling that we're just sitting around, waiting for him to make his next move."

Castle reached up and brushed her hair off her face.

"We're being careful, Kate. At the moment, that's all we can do."

After a moment, she settled her head back on his chest and he stroked his hand along the bare skin of her shoulder, each of them lost in thought.

It was a long moment later when Castle breached the silence.

"Do you want to talk about it?

"About what?" Kate asked softly.

"About whatever it is that's going on in that pretty head of yours," he replied, allowing the humor to soften the question.

She was quiet for so long that Castle didn't think she was going to answer. Just when he'd about given up, he heard her soft answer.

"I miss having my mom to help with the wedding details," she finally admitted.

His arms tightened around her instinctively.

"Oh, honey."

"There are moments that are harder than others," she continued. "Today just reminded me of a conversation I'd had with her after a particularly horrendous reception we attended. The food had been horrible and we questioned whether the happy couple had even bothered sampling the food or if they'd merely picked items off the menu."

Castle held her for a quite some time until she finally shrugged, refusing to allow the emotions to drag her under.

"It helps having distractions," she said as she lifted her gaze to meet his.

He rolled them over until she was pinned beneath him, his lips a mere breath away from hers.

"I can definitely provide a distraction," he told her.

She laughed, bringing her arms around his shoulders and caressing his back.

"Is that so?" she teased.

"Absolutely," he replied, his lips moving to her neck.

She tilted her head slightly to give him better access and gasped when his lips closed around her ear lobe.

"I think you like that," he breathed against her skin, loving the way her body responded to his touch.

"I think I'm not the only one," she replied, sliding a hand between their bodies.

His laugh turned to a moan when she closed her fingers around his length and it wasn't long before the only sounds were that of their playful lovemaking. Conversations of stalkers and wedding plans were left in the past as their world narrowed to include only each other, knowing that they were together and that was all that mattered.

* * *

The following week had found them being called to a crime scene where they'd actually found their suspect cornered by the victim's Rottweiler when they arrived. It was Wednesday afternoon and Kate was looking forward to the extended weekend as she finished the paperwork.

Kate glanced up from the file she was working on when she heard Castle call a greeting to Ryan and Esposito.

"I thought you weren't coming back until time to go get Alexis," she said as he reached her desk.

"I thought you'd want to see this," he said as he held out a large envelope.

When she reached to take it, he pulled it back.

"Gloves first," he commented. "And you should probably get Captain Montgomery."

She arched an eyebrow but immediately got to her feet.

"Conference room," she told him.

Moments later, Montgomery and Kate joined him in the conference room where he'd emptied the contents of the envelope.

"This arrived with the mail today," he explained.

"Do you know when these were taken?" Montgomery asked.

Kate glanced through the photos spread out on the table, easily identifying where they were taken.

"This was the night we closed the Robinson case," Kate stated, pointing to a picture of her and Castle waiting for a cab outside of the restaurant.

"This one was last week," Castle commented, holding up a picture of him and Alexis outside of her Upper East Side prep school. "I met her for lunch on Tuesday."

"This was at the Michael Gray crime scene," Kate said as she picked up a picture of her and Castle standing next to Ryan and Esposito, the yellow crime scene tape clearly visible behind them.

"What about this one?" Montgomery asked, holding out a picture of the two of them holding hands, looking at each other with smiles on their faces.

"That was after a meeting with Lauren," Kate replied.

"I was teasing her about being more concerned with the font size than the color of the ink," Castle added.

The three of them looked through the remainder of the photographs; some taken at crime scenes, some outside of their apartment, and some while they were out in public. However, the one that really stood out was one that both Kate and Castle reaching for it.

Montgomery looked over their shoulders, not missing the look of concern that passed between them.

"Where was that one taken?"

Castle turned his attention back to the photo. Although the lighting wasn't great, it was obvious that it was of him and Kate. She was leaning against the desk and he was sitting in a chair facing her, his arms wrapped around her and his face buried against her stomach. He remembered the day vividly.

"In my office," he finally replied.

Montgomery arched an eyebrow.

"I'll have a team sweep the building across the street," he stated. He paused for a minute before stating the obvious. "The only common denominator in all of them is Castle."

Kate shook her head with a sigh.

"Son of a bitch," she whispered. Then, turning to face Montgomery, she added, "I think we can officially move him to the stalker list, Sir."

Montgomery nodded.

"I'll get all of this to the lab. You two get out of here."

"Sir?"

"Get away from the city for a few days, Beckett. Give the boys in the lab a chance to process everything and hopefully by the time you guys return, we'll have something to go on."

"Yes, Sir," she acquiesced.

After he'd sealed the envelope and its contents in an evidence bag, Montgomery turned his attention back to them.

"Be careful," he told them.

They both nodded their agreement and waited until he left the room before turning to look at each other.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you or Alexis," she assured him.

"I know," he replied, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze.

They stood there for a long minute before Castle finally spoke again.

"And to prove how much I trust you, I'm going to let you drive."

Kate arched an eyebrow.

"Your Mercedes?"

He nodded.

"All the way to the Hamptons?"

He nodded again and Kate grinned, holding out her hand for the keys.

He glanced at her hand then lifted his eyes to hers.

"I said you could drive to the Hamptons," he stated. "I said nothing about Alexis' school."

She whacked his chest.

"You're such a tease."

They continued their banter as they made their way to the elevator. To any casual observer, it would appear to be their standard operating procedure. However, their light-heartedness was forced. Once the doors had closed and they were riding down to the ground floor, Kate wrapped her arm around Castle's waist.

"Rick," she said his name softly. "Everything is going to be okay."

Here merely nodded, choosing to fall back on what had always worked before – following her lead.

* * *

_For AC, Bugg and Softer...best groupies ever._


	13. December

_A huge thank you to IMW for her wonderful beta skills and a shout out to Educate The Masses for some much needed inspiration._

_This one is for my groupies, who have been ever so patient waiting for this. You guys are the best._

* * *

The bedroom was dark; the curtains drawn tight against the city night. The room's occupants paid little heed, as they were traversing familiar territory.

"I know what you're trying to do," Kate gasped, her hips lifting to meet Castle's touch as he slipped a finger into her wetness, his mouth trailing kisses along her stomach.

"What's that?" he murmured against her skin.

"You're trying to distract me," she replied, her breath escaping in a whoosh as his mouth unerringly found her clit, his tongue flicking against it gently.

"Is it working?" he murmured against her.

As distractions went, Kate had to admit that his version was fairly effective. It had almost become a game with them. One of them would inevitably start to complain about the security detail now residing in the loft with them and the other would see just how quickly they could derail the conversation. The last time Castle had started grumbling about it, she had diverted his attention by teasing him about how there were so many Christmas decorations throughout the loft that it was nearly impossible to tell that there were now security personnel staying there as well; his method was undeniably more satisfying.

"Maybe," she replied.

Castle chuckled, the vibrations causing Kate to shiver beneath him, her soft gasps telling him what her words were not.

This particular morning had started with Kate waking early and going downstairs for a glass of juice. Not concerning herself with the coolness of the apartment since she was only going for a drink, she merely grabbed Castle's discarded dress shirt and pulled it on. It wasn't until Lance, the head of their security team, met her in the kitchen, that Kate was reminded why it wasn't a good idea to walk around the loft practically naked. It had taken much longer than Kate deemed necessary for Lance to assure himself that everything was okay before he returned to his post. By the time Kate made her way back to their bedroom, she was agitated; not only was someone stalking them, but they'd also managed to invade their privacy without even being present. It was that irritation that had woken Castle and it hadn't taken long for him to determine what had riled her up.

Instead of trying to rationalize the need for the extra security, Castle had allowed her to vent her frustration. However, he'd done so only after rolling to his side to face her, his weight resting on one elbow while his free hand slowly trailed up and down her bare arm. While she argued the fact that she was a police officer and perfectly capable of taking care of herself, his hand trailed along her collar bone and down to the slope of her breast. He leaned closer then, his lips moving slowly over her pulse point, feeling the effect of his touch on her body in the increase of her heart rate.

She continued presenting her case even as her hand moved to the back of his head, her fingers massaging his scalp as he trailed his lips along her neck and shoulder. He listened half-heartedly as he lowered his hand to cup her breast, rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger as he sucked gently on the sensitive spot just below her ear.

When she admitted that she still agreed the extra security was a must…especially where Alexis was concerned…he slowly trailed his lips down her body; shifting his weight to settle between her legs.

When he closed his lips around her nipple, she paused in her rant just long enough to murmur his name in that sexy voice he loved so much. He stopped listening to her words altogether then, focusing instead on the involuntary moans and gasps that were escaping her lips. He spent several minutes teasing her breasts, taking time to give each of them equal attention, relishing the fact that her body responded so easily to his touch.

By the time he trailed his fingers along her entrance, teasing against her folds as he dipped his tongue into her belly button, her tirade had become nothing more than soft sounds of pleasure. Only then did he move to taste her; knowing that he had her full attention.

Her fingers tightened in his hair as he closed his lips around her clit, alternating the pressure of his tongue against it as his fingers found a steady rhythm within her. Never stopping his ministrations, Rick could tell from the way her breathing hitched that she was already close. Allowing her body's reactions to be his guide, he increased the intensity of his mouth; his fingers curling within her as he felt the first fluttering against them. Within moments, she was crying out, her hands fisting in the sheets as she gave herself over to the pleasure coursing through her body.

He continued to stroke her, certain that it wouldn't take much to push her over the edge again and confident that it wouldn't be unwelcomed. Unfortunately, the buzzing of her cell phone shattered the moment, eliciting a mumbled curse from her when his fingers automatically stilled within her.

"Ignore it," he said softly.

At her nod of agreement, he moved back up to her side, his fingers once again pushing her higher; his mouth at her ear telling her all the things he wanted to do to her.

He took her over the edge the second time and she knew he could do it again. In fact, she was looking forward to taking him with her the next time. However, her phone continued to buzz insistently, demanding to be dealt with.

"What the hell!" Her frustration was back, although for an entirely different reason this time.

"It's three a.m., Kate," Castle stated simply. "You and I both know it's about a murder."

Kate dropped her head back on the pillow and let out a frustrated sigh as he moved away from her; her body bemoaning the loss. With an apologetic look, she reached for the phone.

"Beckett," she said by way of greeting, the shift in her demeanor instantaneous.

Before she'd even finished the call, Castle had made his way to the bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping inside. It was only a couple of minutes later when she joined him.

"Double homicide on 83rd and 5th, just across from the Met," she informed him. "Ryan and Esposito are already on their way."

Kate stepped into the stream of water and gasped, jerking back and falling against his chest.

"Castle! The water is freezing."

"There's a reason for that," he replied as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace.

Feeling his erection pressed against her ass, Kate shook her head.

"I am so sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you later."

"It was worth it," he assured her as he reached around her to adjust the water temperature.

They showered quickly, Castle lingering after Kate stepped out and turning the water back as cold as he could get it. It wasn't the first time work had interrupted a lovemaking session and he was sure it wouldn't be the last. He'd been telling her the truth though. Watching her come apart in his arms was worth whatever torture he had to endure for the rest of the day…especially knowing that the first chance she got, she would follow through on her promise of making it up to him. Experience had taught him that it would be well worth the wait.

* * *

"What do we have?" Kate asked as Esposito lifted the crime scene tape for her and Castle.

At his raised eyebrow, Kate stopped, following his pointed gaze to find Lance trying to cross under the tape as well. With a pointed glare in Castle's direction, Kate turned back to Esposito, leaving Rick to deal with their bodyguard. It was bad enough that their security detail went everywhere with them on their off hours, but the fact that Castle insisted they accompany them into the field was just too much. Kate had drawn the line at allowing them access to crime scenes, insisting that if they wanted to trail them while she worked, they could wait outside with all the other spectators.

While she understood and even agreed with Castle that the extra security was necessary, especially for him and Alexis, it drove her up the wall to have private bodyguards hounding her every move while she was working. Granted, she had been just as freaked out as Castle had been when they'd received a package that contained pictures of their Black Friday shopping trip in the Hamptons as well as pictures of the two of them at Martha and Chet's wedding reception; however, she hadn't expected her agreement of extra security to include her work hours. She appreciated knowing that Rick and Alexis had someone looking out for them when she wasn't with them, but she was a cop for chrissake; she didn't need a bodyguard.

"Victims were husband and wife," Esposito said as they started walking. "Daniel and Linda Tanner. Owners of Tanner's Pizza down on 54th."

"Good pizza," Castle commented as he caught up with them, having reminded Lance that while he was to still keep an eye on them, he wasn't allowed beyond the tape. "Great atmosphere. I used to take Alexis there when she was younger."

Kate took in the surroundings as they neared the bodies. They were away from the street; the shrubs doing a fairly good job of hiding them from view. The apartment building nearby suggested that the victims lived there or were maybe visiting someone the previous evening. Although their clothing suggested perhaps they were out for a night on the town.

"Do they live here?" she asked.

"Negative," Ryan answered as he joined the three of them. "Drivers licenses show their address on East 34th Street."

"You two canvass the area, see if anyone recognizes our victims or noticed anything unusual last night," Kate said. "It's possible they were visiting someone in the building."

"On it," Esposito replied.

As the two of them stepped away, Kate turned her attention back to the victims where Lanie was making notes on a clipboard.

"What can you tell me, Lanie?"

"They were both shot at close range," she replied. "It looks like a .38. Given the temperature last night, I'd put time of death sometime between 8 and 10." Finally glancing up to meet her gaze, Lanie arched an eyebrow at Kate's flushed cheeks, knowing they couldn't be contributed entirely to the cold weather. "I'd also be willing to bet that the phone call didn't wake you this morning."

Kate felt herself blush, once again wondering how Lanie always seemed to know when a call interrupted sex. Choosing to ignore the comment, Kate pointed at the woman's hand.

"What is that under her hand?"

"It looks like she tried to write something," Lanie explained as she lifted the woman's arm to allow Kate a better look. "I've already told the CSU's to make sure they get more pictures once we move the bodies."

"It looks like a J," Castle commented as he leaned down beside Kate.

Kate turned to look at him.

"Snap a picture of that, will you?"

Castle smiled as he pulled out his phone.

"I thought you didn't want me taking any more photos at crime scenes," he teased as he took the first picture.

"Since when do you care what I want?" she shot back.

When his only response was a slight smirk as his eyes travelled the length of her body, Kate shivered and straightened back up. Without a word, she walked away from them, finding her way over to talk to the first officer on scene.

"She can be so cranky when her sleep is interrupted," Caste said to Lanie, even as his eyes continued to follow Kate.

"Mm-hmm," Lanie replied with an arched eyebrow. "And just how early did you wake her this morning?"

"I am completely innocent," Castle stated as he turned his attention back to taking pictures.

"There's not an innocent bone in your body," Lanie replied. "And the blush on my girl's face is all the evidence I need to that fact."

Castle turned his head back in the direction Kate had gone and found her talking to one of the uniformed officers. As if sensing his gaze, Kate looked his way and arched an eyebrow. He lifted his phone to let her know he was finished taking pictures and she gave him a nearly imperceptible nod in return.

"Maybe not," Castle agreed as he turned his attention back to Lanie. "But I am by far the luckiest man on the planet."

"You won't hear me arguing with you on that one," Lanie replied as she got to her feet, signaling that she was ready to move the bodies. Turning her full attention to Castle, her expression grew serious.

"Castle?"

Knowing what was coming next, Castle nodded his head.

"We're being careful, Lanie. We have security with us and we're not taking unnecessary chances."

Lanie's eyes locked with his for a long minute before she finally nodded.

"Keep it that way."

Castle merely smiled as Kate joined them again.

"Ryan and Esposito have a possible witness," she informed them. "Castle, we're going to meet them at the station." Turning to Lanie, she offered her a smile. "You'll call with any news?"

"As always," Lanie promised.

"Thanks, Lanie."

As they turned to walk away, Lanie allowed her gaze to travel along the gathered crowd, wondering if their stalker was there even now. Shaking off the chills the mere thought gave her, she turned her attention back to loading the bodies onto gurneys for transport back to the lab. She was just going to have to trust that both Castle and Kate were indeed being careful.

* * *

Kate stood in front of the white board several hours later, photos of their victims in place and the beginnings of a timeline just starting to take shape. The interview with their possible witness from the scene had been a bust – a homeless man wanting nothing more than to escape the cold for a few hours. Kate had given him a cup of coffee and tracked down a couple of donuts before having Esposito and Ryan set him loose.

After that, Kate had tracked down Linda Tanner's brother, Oliver Martinelli, who appeared to be the only relative living in the city. He had been so shocked by the news of the death of his sister and brother-in-law that he'd completely shut down, leaving them to discuss possible enemies with his wife. JoAnn Martinelli had been less than forthcoming with information, giving Kate the impression that there was no love lost between her and her sister-in-law.

Once they'd left the Martinelli's, Kate and Castle had returned to the precinct where they had spent the remainder of the day digging through the Tanners' backgrounds, searching for clues of who would want to see them dead.

"What are you thinking?" Castle asked as he approached carrying two cups of coffee.

"Thank you," she replied as she took the offered cup. After taking a sip, she turned back to the board. "The letter under Linda Tanner's hand," she said, pointing to one of the pictures. "I'm wondering if she was trying to tell us who murdered her."

"It's possible," Castle agreed.

"It's also possible that she was just trying to crawl for help," Kate continued. "And it simply happens to look like a J."

"Also a very real possibility," he replied.

Kate shook her head and glanced at her watch.

"It's getting late. If we're going to make dinner with Alexis, we should head out soon."

"I'm ready when you are."

Kate sat her coffee on her desk.

"Let me run something by Ryan and Esposito then I'll be ready to go."

"I'll be here," he assured her, earning a smile as she made her way across the bullpen.

* * *

"Let me know if you find anything," Kate said as she stepped into the dining room. She offered an apologetic smile as she returned the phone to her pocket and took her seat at the table. "Sorry about that."

"Esposito?" Castle asked as he passed her the salad bowl.

Kate nodded.

"They're digging into the Tanners' financials," she replied.

Alexis took the salad from Kate as she glanced between the two.

"If you need to be at the station, it's okay," she told them. "It's not like it would be the first time our dinner plans had to be changed."

"Ryan and Esposito can handle things for the night," Kate assured her, not wanting to disrupt their plans for the evening. Because Alexis was spending Christmas break with her mom, they had decided to surprise her by celebrating before she left. After dinner, Martha and Chet were coming over and they were going to exchange gifts, none of them willing to make Alexis wait until she got back home.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Kate replied. "They'll call me if something comes up that needs my attention. Besides, this is our last night before you head off to California; I don't want to spend it working."

"Are you sure it's a good idea that I go?" Alexis asked, her gaze darting between Kate and her father.

"Your mother understands what's going on here, Alexis," Castle assured her. "She's already agreed to the security team being there with you and she's looking forward to spending some time with you. Besides, you're probably safer in California than you are here, since it appears that this stalker is mainly focused on me and not the two of you as well."

Alexis turned her attention to Kate, hoping for a different answer. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend Christmas with her mom, she was just afraid that something would happen to her dad or Kate while she was gone.

"As much as we're going to miss you, I agree with your dad on this one, Alexis," Kate replied. "There's no reason for you to change your plans."

"You promise you'll take care of each other?" she asked.

Kate met Castle's gaze across the table, a soft smile playing on her lips at Alexis' concern for the two of them. The heat in Castle's eyes when they met hers instantly had her thinking about other ways he took care of her and she quickly turned her attention back to the teenage girl sitting next to her.

"You have my word on that," Kate promised her.

At the simple assurance, Alexis finally nodded.

"So what movie do you want to watch after dinner?"

Kate looked up and saw Castle grin at her as he shoved a large bite of food into his mouth, leaving her to answer the question without giving away the surprise. Resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him, Kate turned her attention back to Alexis.

"I was thinking that instead of a movie, we might play a game or something," she suggested.

"Anything in particular?" Alexis asked, not in the least bit concerned about the change in plans.

Before Kate could respond, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Alexis volunteered.

Castle waved her back into her seat.

"Finish your dinner," he told her. "I'll get the door."

Knowing that an unexpected guest would have earned a phone call to the loft, Castle was not at all surprised to find Martha and Chet on the other side of the door. However, the fact that their arms were overflowing with brightly wrapped packages had him at a loss for words. He thought they had agreed on keeping things rather low-key.

"Mother?"

"Hello, darling," she replied, stepping inside and unloading her packages into his arms. "Take these for me, will you?"

Kate merely chuckled as she watched Castle and Chet make their way to the family room to deposit the gifts while Alexis got to her feet to wrap Martha in a hug.

"Gram! What are you doing here?"

"Are we early?" Martha asked, sounding only somewhat apologetic as she met Kate's gaze over Alexis' head.

"It's fine," Kate assured her. "We were just finishing dinner."

"Early for what?" Alexis asked, stepping back as Castle and Chet made their way into the room.

"Surprise, honey," Castle said. "We decided we didn't want you to have to wait until you get back in January, so we're going to celebrate tonight."

Alexis' eyebrows rose and she let out a delighted squeal as she rushed over to hug her father.

"This is great!"

Castle returned the embrace.

"You should probably thank Kate," he told her. "It was her idea."

Alexis hurried to where Kate was sitting, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

"This is so cool. Thank you, Kate."

"You're welcome," Kate replied. "Now, why don't you finish your dinner so we can get to work on opening presents?"

As Alexis returned to her place at the table, Castle turned to Martha and Chet.

"Have you eaten? There's plenty."

"Thank you, Richard," Martha replied. "But we've already eaten."

"A drink then?" he asked.

"A beer would be great," Chet replied.

"Mother?"

"I'll take vodka on the rocks."

Castle went to retrieve their drinks as the two of them settled at the table. Once he returned, the five of them settled into comfortable conversation as they finished dinner with Alexis chattering excitedly about being allowed to open presents before leaving. Listening as the teenager spoke and watching the way father and daughter conversed animatedly, Kate became even more pleased that she'd made the suggestion.

* * *

Castle turned off lights as he made his way through the loft, stopping to check in with Lance before heading upstairs. He stopped at Alexis' door and knocked softly.

"Come in."

Castle pushed the door open and leaned around the door frame.

"Are you all packed and ready for your trip?"

Alexis smiled and pointed to the suitcase sitting just inside her door.

"That's my girl."

Alexis watched him for a minute before she finally spoke.

"You and Kate will be careful while I'm gone, right?"

"Absolutely," Castle assured her.

"And mom really agreed to the security team?"

"It was the only way I was agreeing to you going."

There was another pause and then Alexis walked over and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm going to miss Christmas morning with you."

"Me, too," he agreed as he returned her embrace.

"Thank you again for tonight. I know we usually wait until I get back from mom's before we celebrate, but I'm glad we did it tonight."

"You're welcome."

Alexis pulled back then and leaned up on her tiptoes to brush a kiss against his cheek.

"Good night, dad."

"Good night, sweetie."

With a smile on his face, Castle closed the door and headed across the hall to the room he and Kate shared. It had been a fun evening; Alexis' squeals over her presents every bit as thrilling tonight as they had been on all their previous Christmases.

The bedroom lights were dimmed when Castle stepped through the doorway, his eyes automatically drifting to their bed where he found Kate waiting for him. She was wearing one of his favorite pale blue button-down shirts and lying on her back, her knees bent slightly, opening her body to his gaze.

"Kate?" His voice cracked on her name, all of the blood in his body seemingly pooling in his groin, bringing the erection he'd been fighting all day back to full force.

Her eyes locked on his as she slid one finger into her opening.

"Took you long enough, Rick."

Castle swallowed hard as he took a step towards her.

She merely shook her head.

"Strip."

He wasted no time in divesting himself of his clothing, his erection bobbing eagerly in her direction as he stood naked in front of her, his hands clenched into fists at his sides and his breathing growing erratic.

"Do you want to watch?" she finally asked, her fingers teasing along her folds and circling her clit.

As erotic as the scene in front of him was, Castle knew there was no way he would survive watching her pleasure herself. He closed his eyes on a groan as her fingers disappeared inside of her body.

"I need you," he finally gasped, forcing his eyes open to meet her gaze. "I need to be inside of you."

She arched an eyebrow even as a smile spread across her face.

"Like this?" she asked, her fingers sliding effortlessly in and out of her body.

His only response was a growl.

"Do you have any idea how turned on I've been all day thinking about finally getting you alone tonight?" she continued, her free hand moving to cup her breast through the material of his shirt.

His voice was strained when he spoke again.

"Please, Kate."

"Please what?" she asked, the innocence in her voice belying the actions of her hands on her body.

"Please stop teasing," he begged. "Let me make love to you."

With that, she moved her hands from her body and crooked a finger in his direction.

He needed no further invitation.

Within moments, he was on the bed next to her. His hands pushed the shirt from her body as his mouth claimed hers. He tried to slow things down then, wanting desperately to make it last, but she was having none of that, her hand sliding down to grasp his erection, lining it up with her opening and encouraging him to enter her.

He slid into her effortlessly, her name escaping his lips on a sigh as he stilled above her. Their gazes locked and he smiled down at her.

"I love you, Kate. So much."

"I love you, too, Rick."

He leaned down to kiss her again as his hips started to move, the two of them quickly finding a familiar rhythm, losing themselves in one another as the sounds of their lovemaking filled the room.

* * *

It was much later when Castle stroked his hand along Kate's bare shoulder, her head resting against his chest as their breathing slowly returned to normal.

"Thank you for suggesting we have Christmas with Alexis before she leaves. It meant a lot to her."

Kate lifted her head to meet his gaze.

"It meant a lot to me, too," she assured him.

He lifted his free hand to trail a finger down her cheek.

"This isn't exactly how I pictured our first Christmas together, you know…a stalker on the loose and Alexis spending the holiday with Meredith on the other side of the country."

"I know. It's not exactly how I imagined it would be either," she replied. "But there will be other Christmases. Lots and lots of them."

Kate settled her head back on his chest, her fingers drawing random patterns on his chest as his hand continued to stroke along her shoulder. The silence stretched between them for several minutes before Castle spoke again.

"I've been thinking."

"A dangerous pastime for you."

Castle chuckled lightly at that before growing quiet again.

"What have you been thinking about?" Kate finally asked.

"The stalker."

At that, Kate lifted her head to look at him, crossing her arm over his chest and resting her chin on it.

"What about him?"

"What you said the other day," he continued, his free hand moving to tuck a strand of hair behind her hair, lingering there for a moment. "About the best way to catch a hunter was to become a hunter."

"And?"

"I think you're right."

Kate offered him a lopsided grin.

"You _think_ I'm right?"

He let the comment slide for the moment.

"Montgomery agrees with the plan?"

Kate nodded.

"He pointed out the obvious risks, much like you did when I first mentioned it," she told him. "However, he thinks it's probably our best shot at the moment."

His gaze locked on hers for a long moment, seeing the concern reflected back at him. He finally nodded.

"I think we should do it."

"Are you sure?"

"I'll make a couple of phone calls after we drop Alexis at the airport tomorrow."

She leaned up and brushed her lips against his.

"We're going to catch him, Rick. I told you that I'm not going to let anything happen to any of us."

"I know," he replied, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her more securely onto his chest, content for the moment to just hold her.

It was Kate who broke the silence several moments later.

"Hey, Rick?"

"Hmm?" he murmured against her shoulder, the vibrations sending an involuntary shudder through her body.

She hesitated, debating whether to give voice to her fears.

"I'm more than just a little concerned."

Castle's breath hitched in his throat as he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze.

"Yeah," he finally admitted. "Me, too."

They said nothing more, content to stay wrapped around one another as they eventually drifted off to sleep, desperately trying to ignore the uninvited third party.

* * *

"Was that Alexis?" Kate asked, watching Castle as he returned his phone to his pocket and then made his way back to her side at the white board.

"She's with her mother," he confirmed. "I talked to Shawn and he said there had been no problems along the way and the security team was already in place at the house."

"And Meredith is behaving?"

"So far," he replied. "Alexis promised to let me know if anything changed on that front."

Before she had a chance to comment, Esposito's voice interrupted them.

"Beckett, Oliver Martinelli is here to see you."

"Were we expecting him?" Castle asked as he fell into step beside her.

"No," she replied. "But hopefully he'll be able to answer a few questions today."

As they reached the man, Kate offered her hand.

"Mr. Martinelli, how can I help you?"

"I apologize for yesterday, Detective Beckett," he replied as he shook her hand. "I want to do whatever I can to help find the person responsible for killing Linda and Danny."

"Let's go someplace where we can talk," Kate suggested, leading him towards one of the conference rooms.

Once they were settled, Kate waited, giving Oliver the chance to open the conversation.

"Linda is…was…my baby sister," he began. "It was always my responsibility to look out for her. When she married Daniel…well, he was the first guy who I ever thought might possibly be good enough for her. I knew he loved her, and she was head over heels for him. They were just amazing together."

"Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt them?" Kate asked softly.

Oliver shook his head.

"Everyone loved them," he replied. "They were good people."

"What about the restaurant?" Kate asked. "Any problems there?"

"Not that I'm aware of," he replied. "But I haven't been involved with the restaurant in over ten years."

Kate nodded. Their search into the Tanners' financials had shown them that Linda and Oliver had inherited the restaurant after their parent's death fifteen years earlier. Daniel and Linda had bought out Oliver's share five years later and changed the name from "Martinelli's Pizza" to "Tanner's Pizza." The business had been very lucrative in the time since then, leading Kate to her next question.

"Why did you sell out your half of the restaurant?"

Oliver chuckled slightly.

"Running a business was not my thing," he replied. "Even when we were younger, I hated working in the restaurant. Linda loved it though. Daniel, too. In fact, he'd started as a bus boy when he was sixteen, and worked there the entire time he was going to business school. I think it was a relief to my parents when he and Linda got married because they knew that I was never going to settle into the family business. Having Daniel in the family meant the restaurant would stay in the family."

"Why the name change?" Castle asked. "From Martinelli's to Tanner's?"

"There was another place in town called Martinelli's," Oliver explained. "Our lawyers said we could sue and force them to change their name, but the three of us sat down and agreed it would be easier just to change our name. Besides, it really was Daniel and Linda's place by then. I didn't think dad would mind."

"Daniel and Linda didn't have any children?" Kate probed.

Oliver shook his head, a slight frown on his face.

"They had been trying, but the doctors told Linda there was only a 2% chance that she would ever conceive. Even with fertility treatments, they weren't optimistic that she would ever be able to carry a baby."

"What happens to the restaurant now?" Castle asked.

"I honestly don't know," Oliver replied. "I do plan on keeping it running until we find out though. If I know Linda, she probably left it to my boys. She adored them."

"I'm sorry to ask," Kate said. "But where were you two nights ago, Mr. Martinelli?"

"The boys had an end of semester ice skating party," he replied. "We got to the rink about 7:30 and left at 9:00. We stopped for ice cream on the way home."

"Was your wife with you?" Kate asked.

"No," Oliver replied. "She wasn't feeling well so she stayed home. But there were several other parents who can vouch for me."

"Thank you," Kate said as she got to her feet. "And thank you so much for coming in to talk to us today."

"I just want this bastard caught," he stated as he stood as well.

"I give you my word that we'll do our best to make sure that happens," Kate promised.

With her reassurance ringing in his ears, Oliver made his way out of the conference room and across the precinct to the elevator.

"You don't think he did it, do you?" Castle asked.

Kate shook her head.

"No, but that doesn't mean I won't have Ryan and Esposito check his alibi."

"What about his wife?" Castle suggested.

Kate turned to glare at him.

"Upon what are you basing _that_?"

Castle merely shrugged.

"Well, her name starts with a J, and she clearly has no alibi for the night of the murder," he began. "And to top it all off, she was downright rude to us yesterday afternoon."

"Being rude doesn't mean a person is a murderer," Kate reminded him as she headed towards her desk.

"True," Castle agreed. "But it makes a much more interesting story if it's the sister-in-law."

"This isn't one of your novels, Castle."

"No, it isn't. If it were, we would have already solved the case and we'd be packing it in for the rest of the week, content to whittle away the remaining days until Christmas."

"And what exactly do you think we'd be doing with all that free time?" she murmured playfully. "I'm not going to cave and allow you to open your present early."

He shrugged as his eyes raked over her body.

"I can think of a few things."

She smacked him playfully in the shoulder.

"Castle, we're at work!"

"You started it," he reminded her.

"I did," she admitted, her eyes locking with his. "Make it up to you later?

"Be careful what you promise, Detective; I'll hold you to it."

She shot him a wicked grin before turning back to her murder board, knowing full well his thoughts were on their previous evening.

"I'd expect nothing less."

* * *

The room was still dark when Kate awoke to the smell of coffee. She slowly opened one eye to find Castle lying on his side facing her, his head propped up on one hand and a large mug in his other.

"What time is it?" she mumbled sleepily.

"Early," he replied. "I made you coffee."

She eyed the cup warily.

"How early?"

"Very early," he confirmed. "It's Christmas."

Kate groaned even as she rolled to her side, mirroring his position, her free hand taking the cup of coffee he offered. They had been up late the night before, processing JoAnn Martinelli for the murders of Daniel and Linda Tanner, and making sure the paperwork was complete before leaving the station. Much to Kate's surprise, Castle had been correct in assuming JoAnn was the murderer. Apparently, JoAnn had been completely opposed to Oliver selling out his portion of the family business, especially once she saw how prosperous the restaurant had become. When she'd discovered that Linda had named her two sons, both of whom were still underage, as co-beneficiaries, JoAnn had decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Wait until you see the loot Santa left for you," Castle teased as she slowly sipped her coffee, noticing her smile of approval at the peppermint flavoring he'd added.

"I'm fairly certain all he left you was a lump of coal in your stocking," she shot back.

Castle grinned as he let his eyes wander down her body, the sheet pooling at her waist and leaving the rest of her exposed to his gaze.

"Considering what he left in my bed, I can deal with coal in my stocking."

Kate laughed in spite of herself.

"You're incorrigible."

"And you love me for it," he said as he leaned closer, brushing his mouth against hers.

"Hmm," she murmured against his lips. "Maybe just a little bit."

Castle smiled as he pulled away from her.

"There are fresh bear claws in the kitchen," he told her. "Santa left them in exchange for the cookies and milk."

"Did he now?"

At his nod, Kate glanced over at the clock.

"Castle, it's barely five a.m. How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to make you coffee," he replied. "Santa did everything else."

"Right," she said as she moved to get out of the bed. "Then I guess I need to go track Santa down and thank him properly."

Castle's hand on her arm stopped her.

"I have a surprise for you."

When she stilled and turned her attention back to him, he shifted so he could reach the bedside table. Before she could ask what he was doing, the room was suddenly bathed in a soft glow.

"Castle?"

He grinned as he watched her face, the lights from the Christmas tree causing her to look like she was glowing.

"You sleep like the dead, Kate," he stated simply. "It wasn't that difficult to bring the tree in here without waking you."

Kate studied the tree for a moment, recognizing by the ornaments that it was the one they'd placed at the end of the hall between the bedrooms.

"Why?" she asked when she finally turned her attention back to Castle.

He merely shrugged.

"I wanted to make this Christmas special for you."

Kate heard what he didn't say. He'd gone to the trouble of bringing a tree into their bedroom because she'd jokingly teased him while they'd been decorating that having extra security in the loft was putting a damper on her fantasy of making love to him beneath the glow of the Christmas tree. While she'd been only half serious when she'd said it, she was touched that he'd gone to such lengths for her.

"Thank you," she whispered as she closed the distance between them and kissed him.

"You're welcome," he replied just as softly, one hand finding its way to her bare shoulder as his lips trailed down her jaw to her neck.

His fingers trailed down her arm until he reached her hand, easing the coffee mug from her grip as he rolled forward, lifting his mouth from her only long enough to be certain that he didn't spill the coffee as he sat the mug on the bedside table.

She was smiling when he turned his attention back to her and he arched an eyebrow in question.

"What?"

She shook her head slightly.

"You," she stated simply. He waited, hoping she would elaborate. She didn't disappoint. "You act like this big goofy kid sometimes and yet underneath all that there's this really sweet, amazing man."

He shifted until he was lying on top of her, his weight supported on his elbows; her legs automatically falling open to cradle him against her.

"And you, Kate Beckett, are the most amazing woman I've ever known," he replied.

He hovered above her for a long minute, their eyes locked, silent conversation flowing between them. When he finally lowered his mouth to hers, they both let out soft sighs of contentment, the sound echoing through the room.

She tasted like coffee and mint and he was in no hurry, taking his time to explore her mouth as her hands trailed up and down his back. It wasn't until he felt her hands on his bare skin that he finally broke off the kiss.

"You're wearing too many clothes," she told him as her hands tugged at the soft t-shirt covering his chest.

He pushed himself to his knees as he quickly removed the shirt, tossing it haphazardly to the floor. When he tried to lower himself back to her, she placed her hand in the middle of his chest.

"The sweats."

His hands moved to the waistband of the faded sweats he'd pulled on earlier that morning and he slowly pushed them off of his hips, watching Kate as she watched him. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips as he eased them past his erection and he had to bite back a moan. Placing his left hand beside her head, he shifted his weight off his knees so he could kick the sweats away, using his free hand to push the covers the rest of the way off of her so that when he returned to her, there was nothing separating them.

Kate wrapped her arms around his shoulders, lifting her head to meet his kiss, her lips parting beneath his in invitation.

They took their time, savoring each other, tongues dueling, teeth occasionally clashing; soft words of love being murmured as their lips caressed one another.

It was Kate who pulled away first, her hands drawing random patterns on Castle's back as she squirmed beneath him, desperate for more contact.

Her voice was a mere whisper.

"Rick, please."

He wasted no words asking what she wanted. He merely shifted his weight, bringing one hand up to cup her breast while his mouth latched onto the other nipple; his free hand sliding down her body and into her moist heat.

Her gasp of pleasure was all the incentive he needed to increase the pressure, feeling one of her hands fisting in his hair, holding him securely against her breast as his fingers slowly slid in and out of her body.

He stayed there, his mouth and hands working her into a frenzy. Her soft gasps escalated to moans as he teased her, alternating his touch on her breasts between gentle and firm while his fingers kept a tortuously slow pace between her legs.

He knew she'd taken as much teasing as she could handle when before he even realized she was moving, she had flipped them over, moving until she was straddling his hips.

"My turn," she offered as she lowered her mouth to his chest and nipped playfully at his nipple.

When he growled at her in response, she merely smiled at him and repeated the action on the other nipple.

Her hands trailed down his chest as she teased him with her mouth; her lips and tongue caressing him as she slowly worked her way lower.

By the time she positioned herself between his legs and lifted her gaze to look at him, his eyes were nearly black with desire, his hands fisted in the sheets.

"Kate…baby…please."

Keeping her eyes locked on his, she lowered her head and took him into her mouth, running her tongue over the tip of him, watching as his eyes closed on a moan. Then starting at the base, she slowly ran her tongue up the length of him before taking the tip in her mouth and sucking lightly. Kate smiled around him at his murmured "Dear god, help me," but she didn't even pause in her ministrations. Bringing one hand up to wrap around the base of him, she set a very slow pace, using both her hand and her mouth to bring him pleasure. Her pace increased with the restrained thrusting of his hips, his whisperings urging her on. When her hand slid down to cup him, he gasped and she knew he couldn't take much more.

"Kate."

Recognizing the warning tone, Kate gave him one final lick before releasing him, quickly moving until she was straddling him again. Not giving him a chance to recover, she lowered herself onto his length, both of them moaning at the contact.

His hands moved to her hips, encouraging her, desperate to feel her come apart.

Kate leaned forward, bracing her hands on his chest as she began to move, slowly at first, enjoying the feel of him sliding in and out of her body. He met each of her downward thrusts with one of his own, loving the sounds of pleasure that escaped her lips as they moved together. Soon it wasn't enough and she increased the pace, settling on a fast rhythm that had them both gasping for breath.

"You are so sexy," he told her as he brought one hand between them, finding her clit and rubbing against it in time with their thrusts.

"So close," she gasped.

"Come for me," he encouraged her.

Kate closed her eyes, focusing on the sound of his voice as he continued to talk to her, telling her how much he enjoyed watching her; listening to her; feeling her come apart in his arms. It wasn't long before she was doing just that, his name escaping her lips in a strangled cry as she collapsed against him. A few strokes later and Castle was following her over the edge, calling out her name as he gave himself over to the pleasure coursing through him.

It was several minutes later before they moved, Kate rolling to tuck herself into Castle's side as she rested her head on his chest.

"As good as you imagined?" Castle asked as he toyed with a strand of her hair.

"Even better," she replied.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes," she said as she met his gaze. "We didn't have to make use of the living room floor."

Castle chuckled at that, leaning down to brush his lips against her forehead, pulling her further into his embrace.

They stayed that way for several minutes before Castle finally broke the silence.

"Are you ready for this?"

Kate didn't have to ask to what "this" he was referring.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," she replied, once again second guessing the decision to set their plan for catching their stalker into motion on Christmas Day.

"It'll work, Kate," Castle assured her. "It's a good plan."

Kate looked up at him and let out a heavy sigh.

"I know."

They held each other's gaze for a long moment before Castle finally smiled and broke the silence.

"Merry Christmas, Kate."

"Merry Christmas, Rick."

He then leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, knowing that, at least for the moment, this was the best Christmas ever.

_

* * *

_

So here's the deal…the plan was to write one chapter for each month of the year. Mission accomplished. However, since there's this pesky little detail of a stalker still hanging over their heads, there will be one more chapter to tie up all the loose ends.

_Now, it's your turn. Hit the button and leave a review. Please and thank you._


	14. Epilogue

_First and foremost, I apologize for the delay in getting this posted. No excuses. The blame is all on me._

_Second, some people who need to be thanked. Educate, thank you for the motivation when I was seriously lacking it and for…well, you know. IMW, thank you for the wonderful beta job you have done on this story. Softer, thank you for the words of encouragement when I needed to hear them. Carolina17, thank you for dubbing me a slacker. ss_sunset, thank you for the "pestering" to remind me that people were still waiting for this. And to everyone who has read, reviewed, alerted and/or favorited this story, thank you for doing so._

_Okay, enough rambling on my part. This chapter covers four months in the lives of our heroes so I've included the dates at the beginning of sections in an effort to help keep things straight. Hope you enjoy. _

* * *

January 2011

Kate pulled the car to a stop just outside the yellow crime scene tape and turned to face Castle. The call about the dead body had come before four that morning interrupting the first good night's sleep they'd had the opportunity to catch in over two weeks.

"You can stay in the car if you want," she offered, knowing even as she suggested it that he would turn her down.

A hint of a smile ghosted across his lips as he met her concerned gaze.

"I'm fine, Kate."

She nodded her acceptance as she glanced in the rearview mirror, watching as Lance and the rest of their security team positioned themselves around the car.

"Were you able to reach Reggie?" she asked.

"I gave him the address," Castle confirmed.

Reggie James was the private investigator they had hired in December. When Castle had explained the situation with their stalker, Reggie had jumped at the opportunity to help them. Since then, Reggie had been following Castle's every move, documenting the people who were in the area at the same time and making note of anyone who showed up in more than one place – especially anyone with a camera. The plan was to catch their stalker in the act and then to turn the tables on him. Unfortunately, it required that Castle make numerous public appearances…something they had avoided for over six weeks in an effort to frustrate their stalker.

Kate had to admit that she was impressed with Reggie's work. Mostly because even though she knew for a fact that he was following them, she had yet to catch sight of him. More than that though, the pictures he had taken of spectators at crime scenes and public appearances were of exceptional quality. So far, there had been a couple of possible suspects, and Reggie's pictures had made running facial recognition software an easy task. The fact that he had access to several databases to run them against only served to further impress her.

Since Christmas, she and Castle had made numerous public appearances. From parties, to movie premieres, to impromptu book signings at bookstores, all had been done in an effort to flush their stalker. The one thing they had been very careful about were their meetings with Reggie. They didn't want to tip their hand and give their stalker a chance to cover his tracks. So far, it appeared to be working. The number of pictures and packages seemed to be increasing in direct correlation with their increased public appearances. Unfortunately, the downside was the strain it was putting on the two of them.

Between cases and public appearances, it had been over two weeks since she and Castle had had an evening alone. After a quiet dinner with Alexis, they had turned in early only to be awakened by a call out to a crime scene. Castle's first call had been to Reggie, wanting to make sure he knew their destination in plenty of time to set up surveillance. Once that had been taken care of, they had alerted Lance and then headed out, knowing it was likely to be a long day.

"Enough stalling," Castle finally said. "We agreed this was our best course of action and while I have to admit that I was hoping for results a lot sooner than they're happening, I'm committed to staying the course."

Her eyes took in the determination obvious in the set of his jaw and Kate offered him a small smile.

"Okay then."

"Okay," he echoed.

"Let's do this."

* * *

"What do we have, Lanie?" Kate asked as her and Castle made their way into the alley, the floodlights the crime scene unit had set up illuminating the pool of blood surrounding their victim and running toward the street.

"Single gunshot wound," Lanie replied, not bothering to look up from her examination. "Small caliber. Looks like it might have nicked the ascending aorta, but I won't know for sure until I get her back to the lab."

"Her name is Lesley Raven," Esposito said as he stepped up to Beckett's side and handed her a plastic evidence bag containing a purse. "According to her driver's license, she's twenty-four and lives two blocks over. There's over two hundred dollars in cash in her wallet and several credit cards."

"Guess that rules out robbery," Castle offered.

"Who found her?" Beckett asked, turning her attention to Esposito.

Esposito nodded to where Ryan was talking to a young couple.

"Max and Trish Ringer. He's a bartender and she's a waitress at a place on 34th. They were just getting home from work when they noticed the blood and called it in."

"Did they know our victim?"

"No."

"After Ryan finishes getting their statements, the two of you canvass the area and see if anyone recognizes our victim. Then I want you to verify the time the Ringers left work so we can mark them off the suspect list."

"On it."

Turning her attention back to Lanie, Kate squatted down beside the body, her eyes taking in the multiple scratches on the victim's hands and arms as well as the bruises on her face.

"It looks like she put up quite a fight."

Lanie lifted her eyes to meet Kate's gaze.

"I estimate time of death between ten p.m. and midnight, but the bruises on her face and arms are at least twelve hours old."

"So someone used her as a punching bag before she was murdered?" Castle asked.

"It looks that way," Lanie agreed.

Kate's eyes travelled over the body one last time before she stood up.

"Anything else?"

"Not yet, but I'll let you know once I get her back to the morgue."

"Thanks, Lanie."

With nothing more than a nod, Lanie turned her attention back to the body.

After taking the time to do a mental inventory of the scene, Kate turned her attention back to Castle.

"Let's go have a look at her apartment, Castle."

"What are we looking for?" he asked as he followed her back to the car.

"Something to point us to the identity of who might have wanted to see Lesley dead. Or at the very least, the identity of who was abusing her."

"You don't think the two are related?" he asked as they settled into the car, a cursory glance assuring him that their security team was close behind.

"I'm not ruling it out," she replied. "But just because someone knocked her around, it doesn't necessarily mean the same person killed her."

"But the odds are in favor of it."

"Unfortunately, yes."

"I hate domestic cases," Castle stated.

"I know," she replied, sparing a glance in his direction. Domestic cases and kids…they were always the worst.

Allowing herself a brief moment, she reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. It was definitely going to be a long day.

* * *

February 2011

Kate was leaning against her desk, her attention on the murder board in front of her. They had caught Lesley Raven's murderer - an ex-boyfriend who refused to accept that she was leaving him - and then caught another case on the heels of it. Kate's instincts were telling her that the victim's mistress was hiding something, but so far, they had been unable to find anything concrete on her. On top of that, they'd gotten called out early that morning to Central Park only to end up in a jurisdictional dispute. To be honest, Kate hadn't minded giving up the lead. She had only protested for the sake of argument.

Castle's appearance at her elbow did nothing to break her concentration, but the tone of his voice when he said her name drew her full attention.

"Kate, Reggie's here."

"At the precinct?" she asked, knowing they'd intentionally kept their meetings away from the precinct.

"He has something he wants to show us."

Kate followed Castle into the conference room, only slightly surprised to find Captain Montgomery already in there with Reggie.

Reggie met her gaze, a quick nod the only pleasantries he bothered with before beginning his explanation.

"I've been going through my photos from the crime scenes, specifically the ones where pictures have been taken of you and Rick and I think I've found something."

Kate watched as he spread several photos on the table, her mind instantly connecting the photos to victims.

"What are we looking at?" Castle asked.

Reggie pointed to a man in the first photo.

"Do you recognize him?"

"A cop?" Kate asked, her eyes quickly meeting Captain Montgomery's.

"No," Reggie continued. "He's posing as a cop, but I'm certain that he isn't one."

Kate took her time studying the pictures, Castle looking over her shoulder, before passing them on to Captain Montgomery.

"I don't see anything here that convinces me this officer is our stalker," she finally said as she looked up at Reggie.

"But you recognize the crime scenes?" he asked. "And you've gotten pictures from all of them, correct?"

"There are several officers assigned to our crime scenes," she replied. "Just because he was there doesn't make him guilty."

Kate glared at Reggie, daring him to prove her wrong. As much as she didn't want to admit it, it made sense. And the hair on the back of her neck had been standing on edge since she'd glanced at the first picture.

Reggie reached for another stack of photos.

"I took these this morning," he told them as he spread them out on the table. "Since I was already suspicious, I decided to focus my attention solely on him."

Kate placed her hands on the table, leaning forward to get a better look at the photo spread. It quickly became obvious that the officer in the photo was not what he appeared to be. There were several pictures of him walking around the scene with a camera in his hand, but in every frame, the camera was pointed towards the officers on scene as opposed to the actual crime scene.

Kate glanced up when she reached the final photo - a close up of his badge.

"Have you already run the badge number?"

"It's a legitimate badge number," Reggie confirmed. "Officer Jason Watson."

"I know Watson," Castle said. "I met him at one of the crime scenes last year. He told me his wife was a big fan so I autographed a copy of Heat Wave for him. This is not him."

Kate looked over at Captain Montgomery with a raised brow.

"Sir?"

"Let me check incident reports," Montgomery replied. "See if Watson reported his badge missing. You pull crime scene log sheets and see if Watson's name shows up on any of them."

Kate nodded her agreement and then turned her attention back to Reggie when he spoke again.

"What do you want me to do with this information?"

Kate looked at Castle for a long minute before turning back to Reggie.

"Sit on it for now. Keep an eye out for him, but don't pursue him until we've had a chance to verify things on our end. We don't want to run the risk of spooking him."

Reggie nodded his agreement and had already started gathering the photos when Castle spoke again.

"What about other places?" he asked. When three sets of eyes turned to him, he gave a small shrug. "Does this guy show up at any of the other public events? The charity auction last week? The movie premiere the week before that? I agree that this guy's behavior is more than a little suspect, but the photos he's sending us aren't just from crime scenes. If this guy doesn't show up at any of the other places, then it's a pretty good bet that he's not the guy we're looking for."

"Now that I know who to look for, I'll go back through my photos of all of those other events and see if there's a connection," Reggie replied.

"If this is our guy, he will most likely blend in," Montgomery offered. "I'm fairly certain Castle and Beckett would have noticed a uniformed NYPD officer at the charity auction."

"I'll be thorough," Reggie promised as he finished gathering his things. "And I'll be in touch just as soon as I find something."

"We'll let you know what we find out about Watson's badge," Kate told him.

Reggie took a moment to shake their hands, pausing when he got to Castle.

"We're getting closer, Rick."

Castle merely nodded, moving to lean a hip against the table as Montgomery followed Reggie out of the room.

Kate moved to stand in front of him, placing a hand on his forearm and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Are you okay?"

Castle lifted his hands and scrubbed them down his face before meeting her gaze, a wry smile on his lips.

"Not exactly what you thought you were signing up for when you agreed to marry me, is it?"

Kate chuckled softly.

"Not exactly."

"I'm sorry. You should be meeting with the caterer and florist discussing wedding details, not with a private investigator discussing whether or not we finally have a lead on who's been stalking me."

"Hey," she said, taking his hands in hers. "This is not your fault." After a brief pause, she added, "Besides, we hired Lauren to handle all the wedding details."

Castle couldn't help but laugh at that.

"I don't deserve you."

"Probably not," she agreed with a smile. "Regardless of that though, you're stuck with me."

He gave her hands a squeeze.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." Giving a slight tug on his hands, she turned towards the conference room door. "Come on, Castle. We have work to do."

"About that," Castle said as they stepped through the door and back into the bullpen. "Are you sure the wife didn't know about the affair?"

"As far as we can tell, no. Why?"

"Makes for a better story," he replied. "Faithful wife discovers her husband is having an affair and plans to leave her so she kills him and frames the mistress."

"The wife has an alibi," Kate reminded him.

"So does the mistress," Castle pointed out.

"Then there has to be another player in the game," Kate said as they came to a stop in front of the murder board.

They stared at the board in silence for a long minute before Castle finally spoke again.

"What if they did it together?"

Kate turned to stare at him but before she could even voice her disbelief at his theory, something clicked into place in her mind.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but in a way, that makes sense." Kate grabbed her coat and pulled it on as she headed towards the elevator. "Come on, Castle. Let's go talk to these two again."

Castle hurriedly grabbed his coat and followed her, not completely sure what she was thinking, but experienced enough to know her instincts were usually correct.

* * *

"Dennis Pettigrew," Esposito said as he dropped a file into the middle of the stack of paperwork Kate was working on.

Kate bit back a growl of frustration and turned her attention to Esposito.

"Who?"

Esposito nodded to the file.

"Dennis Pettigrew," he repeated.

Since they weren't currently working on a case, Kate had no idea what he was talking about. Regardless, she placed her pen on her desk and picked up the file, opening the cover to find an 8x10 color photograph staring up at her.

"You found him?" she asked, her eyes darting up to the smug smile on Esposito's face.

"Found whom?" Castle asked as he moved from his seat to look over Kate's shoulder.

"Your stalker," Esposito replied as Castle studied the picture of the man they had spent the better part of the month trying to track down.

"He used to be a high school English teacher," Esposito said. "From what we've found so far, he came into a large sum of money about ten years ago and retired from his position at PS 189. He bought a condo on the Upper East Side and has basically lived off of investments."

Castle settled back in his chair, his expression giving Kate pause.

"What is it, Castle?"

He looked at her and shook his head.

"I'm not sure. Something about that name seems familiar though."

Ryan joined them then, another file in his hand.

"Pettigrew has a sealed juvenile record," he informed them. "Captain Montgomery is already making calls to see about getting them unsealed. Other than that, his record is clean. Not so much as a parking ticket."

Kate focused on Castle, noting from the way his brow was still furrowed that he was only partially paying attention to them. Moving her chair a bit closer to him, she placed a hand on his knee.

"What are you thinking?"

He met her gaze with a shrug.

"I know that name from somewhere."

"Maybe you've met him before," she suggested. "At a book signing or a charity event."

Castle's face lit up as a smile spread across his face.

"Last New Year's Eve."

At Kate's confused look, he quickly continued.

"Do you remember when Gina was dragging us around the room introducing us to different authors?"

Kate nodded slowly. Most of what she recalled from that experience was how fascinating it had been to watch Castle interact with his colleagues.

"One of them was named Pettigrew."

"Are you sure?" Esposito asked.

"Positive," Castle replied. "I remember because the whole time he was talking, I just kept thinking that he didn't look anything at all like the famous football player."

Kate shook her head even as she smiled. Only Castle.

"Call Gina and see what she can tell you about him," she said. "I'm going to contact Reggie and tell him we've got information for him."

Castle pulled his phone from his pocket and stepped away from them to place the call. After making her own call to Reggie and agreeing to meet him, Kate turned to Ryan and Esposito with a spark in her eye that they hadn't seen in quite some time.

"Great work, guys," she said. "Now let's nail this bastard."

* * *

March 2011

Kate looked up at the four story apartment building they were currently watching as they waited for the rest of the team to arrive.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," she said as she turned her attention to Castle.

Instead of the flippant comment she was expecting about it being something she ate, he surprised her with his reply.

"So do I."

They had been tracking Dennis Pettigrew for three weeks now and had finally gathered enough evidence to get a judge to sign off on an arrest warrant. Reggie had confirmed that he was currently holed up in the northeast corner apartment on the third floor and Kate had assembled a team to bring him in.

"We still have no idea why he fixated on you," she stated.

"We might never know the answer to that," he reminded her as he saw Ryan and Esposito pull in behind them.

"Would it do any good to ask you to stay in the car?" she asked as she opened her car door.

He surprised her again with his answer.

"If that's what you want, Kate."

Looking at him over the top of the car, she recognized the sincerity in his gaze. And while part of her wanted to ask him to do just that, another part of her was concerned about leaving him alone in the event that Pettigrew was already on the move. They had no way of knowing if he would turn violent when he realized that he was cornered. No, the best place for Castle was at her side.

"Stay behind me," she told him.

"Always," he agreed as he followed them into the building only a few short minutes away from confronting the man who had made their lives a living hell for the last five months.

* * *

Kate lifted her head at the sound of a throat being cleared, her eyes darting to the doorway of the hospital room where Esposito met her gaze, a simple tilt of his head indicating he wanted to talk. Doing her best not to wake Alexis, Kate maneuvered off the small couch, settling a pillow beneath the teenager's head where it had been resting on her lap.

"How's Castle?" Esposito asked as soon as the door closed behind them.

"No change," Kate replied, her eyes drifting to the door she had just walked through. Taking a deep breath, she forced her gaze back to Esposito. "What do you have?"

"Pettigrew never went back to his condo on the Upper East Side," he replied. "The CSU team at the scene has confirmed that he was wounded though. It looks like your shot at least winged him."

Ryan joined them then, handing a cup of coffee to Kate.

"We've got people checking every hospital and immediate care center within a fifty mile radius to see if Pettigrew stopped for medical attention."

"My money is on him trying to get out of the city as fast as possible," Kate said.

"We're making that as difficult as possible," Ryan assured her.

"How is the story spinning in the news?" Kate asked, nodding to the newspaper tucked under Ryan's arm.

He pulled the paper out and handed it to her, watching her reaction as she unfolded it to read the morning's headline.

"_Famous Author Rick Castle hospitalized while police __conduct manhunt for his alleged stalker, Dennis Pettigrew."_

There was a press photo of Castle on one side of the article and the DMV photo they had released of Pettigrew on the other side.

Kate nodded slightly, quickly skimming the article, noting with irritation that it seemed to be focused more on speculation about whether this would disrupt their wedding plans instead of the fact that there was a statewide manhunt on for Pettigrew.

"Hopefully at least someone will recognize him," Esposito offered, having already read the article and aware that there wasn't much substance to it beyond the headline.

She refolded the paper and handed it back to Ryan before taking a deliberate drink of her coffee.

"I should get to the precinct."

"No, you shouldn't," Esposito replied, earning a raised eyebrow which prompted him to continue. "Ryan and I can run point on this one. You stay here with Castle and keep an eye on things in case Pettigrew is crazier than any of us think and decides to try to finish the job here at the hospital."

Kate took a deep breath and let it out slowly, her eyes quickly taking in the details of the hospital corridor, including not only Lance and their personal security team but also uniformed officers standing guard at either end of the hallway.

"Captain Montgomery isn't taking any chances," Ryan told her.

"Okay," she finally agreed. "But keep me posted."

"We will," they assured her.

Kate turned to go back into the room, but paused with her hand on the door.

"Thanks, guys."

They merely nodded and started down the hall. Kate watched until they reached the elevator before she drew another deep breath and stepped back into Castle's room. Her eyes immediately sought his face, hoping to find him awake with a smile on his face and a wisecrack on his lips. Instead she was met with the silence of the room, his skin pale against the white hospital sheets. As she made her way to his side, she fought back the tears that threatened to fall.

Pettigrew had managed to elude them at the apartment building the day before, using a six inch knife to leave a nasty gash on Castle's arm that had required immediate surgery. Fortunately, the surgeon had been able to repair the damage and was certain there was no nerve damage. Unfortunately, Castle had had a reaction to the anesthesia and his blood pressure had dropped so low that he nearly coded on the operating table.

The doctors assured Kate that he was fine now, his body merely recovering from the ordeal, but he had yet to awaken which had Kate worried. Being mindful of the i.v. in the hand not currently wrapped in bandages, Kate laced her fingers with Castle's and leaned down to plant a kiss just above his ear.

"You're sleeping through all the action again, Castle," she whispered. "And if you don't wake up soon, I'm going to tell Alexis that it's okay if she wants to go to school in England instead of New York."

When her words got no reaction, Kate bit back a sigh and placed another kiss on his cheek before returning to her spot next to Alexis. Making sure her gun was easily accessible in case Pettigrew did decide to pay them a visit, Kate forced herself to relax as she settled in to continue her vigil.

* * *

Kate was still laughing at Castle's horrible knock-knock jokes when a knock on the door drew her attention. She looked up to see Esposito standing there and waved him inside. His slight hesitation alerted her to the fact that he had news on Pettigrew and she stood to excuse herself, intending to join him in the hallway.

Noticing their guest, Martha stood and cleared her throat.

"Alexis, honey, why don't you and I go see if we can rustle up something edible from the cafeteria?"

Alexis glanced around before nodding her agreement. They were all anxious to hear news of the stalker, but she knew Esposito would feel like he needed to censor himself if she and her grandmother were still in the room.

Once the two of them had left the room, Esposito stepped to the side of the bed.

"Glad to see you decided to rejoin us, Castle," he teased. He'd gotten the text from Beckett late the previous night stating that Castle had finally woken, but had gotten a tip on Pettigrew's location shortly afterwards and had been unable to stop by to check in on him before now.

Castle merely shrugged.

"I figured it was time to let the professionals do their job," he replied.

"You have news?" Kate asked.

"We got a hotline tip that Pettigrew was holed up in a motel a few blocks from his condo. We put together a swat team and headed out only to find him dead when we got there."

Kate closed her eyes and let out a sigh as Esposito continued.

"Lanie puts time of death about twelve hours ago and is ruling it a suicide."

"So it's over then," Castle said as he reached for Kate's hand.

"Yeah," Esposito confirmed. "It's over. CSU found enough evidence at the apartment that we're certain Pettigrew was the one stalking you."

"No idea why?" Kate asked.

"Ryan is checking into Pettigrew's medical history to see if there's any history of mental illness," he replied. "But beyond that, whatever his motives were, he took them to the grave with him."

Kate shook her head even as she gave Castle's hand a squeeze. As happy as she was that the ordeal was finally over, she hated not knowing why Pettigrew had fixated on Castle.

"Anyway," Esposito continued as he turned his attention to Castle. "I'm on my way back to the precinct to finish up the paperwork, and then Captain Montgomery has given us a couple of days off. Any word when you're getting cut loose from here?"

"If all goes as planned, early tomorrow," he replied.

"Then Ryan and I will stop by the loft tomorrow afternoon," Esposito promised. With a nod to Castle's bandaged hand, he added, "That might be enough of a handicap for us to take you in Halo."

"Bring it on," Castle replied.

Esposito merely grinned and turned to Kate.

"I'll call if Ryan finds anything."

"Thanks, Esposito," she replied as she walked him to the door.

"No problem," he replied.

Kate closed the door and then turned her attention back to Castle.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Kate shrugged.

"Pettigrew made our lives miserable for over five months," she replied. "It would be nice to know why he did it."

"Even if they'd taken him alive, there's no guarantee we would ever know why for sure," he pointed out.

"I know," she agreed as she made her way back to his side. "It doesn't mean I have to like it."

He grinned as he took her hand in his again.

"Look at the bright side," he said. "At least now we can get our privacy back."

Kate couldn't help but smile at that. It had been a point of contention since they had hired Lance for added security.

"Not to mention we can focus all of our attention on planning our wedding," he added.

"That's what we hired Lauren for, remember?" Kate teased as she leaned down to brush her lips against his.

"Then we can focus on planning our honeymoon," he countered.

Kate grinned and kissed him again. The honeymoon had been the one detail that Castle had insisted on planning himself. The reality of the situation with Pettigrew had kept her focus so divided that she hadn't really had the opportunity to question him for information.

"About that," she began.

"Oh no," Castle replied with a chuckle as he met her gaze. "My lips are sealed."

"I have ways of making you talk," Kate replied.

Castle's smiled widened as he arched an eyebrow.

"Bring it on, Detective."

Kate's laughter rang out and as the knowledge that they were finally free from their stalker began to settle in, she felt a weight fall from her shoulders and felt herself truly relax for what felt like the first time in months.

* * *

April 17, 2011

Castle awoke to find Kate propped up on an elbow, her free hand tracing idle patterns on his bare chest as her eyes raked over his body.

"Are you watching me sleep?" he asked, his voice sleep roughened.

Kate smiled as her eyes met his.

"Yes."

"It's a little creepy," he stated.

Kate couldn't help but laugh.

"I've been telling you that for months."

He caught her hand in his and lifted it to his lips, kissing the back of it and enjoying the way the wedding band on her finger caught the early morning light.

"Good morning, wife," he said as he intertwined their fingers before resting them back on his chest.

"Good morning, husband," she replied as she leaned down to press her lips against his shoulder.

Castle smiled at that. He was quite certain that he would never get tired of hearing those words from Kate's lips.

The ceremony had gone off without a hitch, everything falling easily into place as their friends and family had gathered to celebrate with them. While Castle had thought Alexis and Lanie both beautiful in their bridesmaid's dresses, Kate had been absolutely breath-taking in her wedding gown.

In spite of the teasing and laughter that they had shared during the rehearsal, the actual ceremony had been very solemn, Castle taking very seriously the fact that Kate had once told him she was a "one and done" girl. He knew that the vows she was taking were a lifetime commitment and he wanted her to know he was doing the same.

The reception had been anything _but_ solemn. It had been several hours of dancing, laughing, eating and drinking. Probably the biggest surprise of the evening had come when the newlyweds had caught sight of Esposito and Lanie sharing a not-so-innocent kiss in the hallway outside the ballroom. While Castle had wanted to interrupt and return a bit of the good-natured teasing they had endured during the early stages of their courtship, Kate had refused to allow him, insisting that there would be plenty of time for teasing once they returned from their honeymoon.

Kate trailed her lips from Castle's shoulder up to his ear.

"Are you going to tell me yet where we're spending our honeymoon?"

Castle couldn't help but smile. It hadn't been easy, but he had managed to keep their destination a secret. Even when they'd made their way to the suite after the reception the night before, he'd managed to withhold the information from her, finally distracting her from her interrogation by convincing her that he wanted to make love to his new wife.

"I should probably hold out," he teased as her lips moved along his jawline. "But I think it's safe to tell you now."

Kate stopped her ministrations and lifted her gaze to his, arching an eyebrow in silent question.

"I have a friend who has a place on St. Thomas Island in the Virgin Islands," he told her. "He's loaning it to us for the week."

Kate was surprised. While she had always wanted to visit St. Thomas, knowing it was where her parents had spent their tenth wedding anniversary, she had figured Castle for something a little more extravagant.

Castle watched the play of emotions on her face, trying to decide if he'd made a miscalculation.

"Should I call and make other arrangements?" he finally asked.

Kate shook her head as a smile slowly spread across her face.

"It's perfect," she assured him.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

With that, she shifted until she was lying atop him, her lips easily finding his.

"I love you," she said when they finally broke apart.

"I love you, too."

No further words were needed as they lost themselves in each other, celebrating their new life together and looking forward to both the blessings and challenges they were sure to face in the upcoming years.

_

* * *

_

Again, thank you to everyone who has read this story. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. Now if you would be so kind as to leave a review, it would make my day.


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